2021 EPS-QEOD Thesis Prize

Since 2007, the Quantum Electronics and Optics division (QEOD) of the European Physical Society (EPS) awards a prize on a biennial basis for the best-nominated PhD thesis in the area of quantum electronics and optics. The thesis must be submitted in the two years before the CLEO®/Europe-I(E)QEC meetings. These prizes are awarded for fundamental and applied aspects.

This year, the Prize for applied aspects was awarded to Maxim Karpov for his Doctoral Thesis “Dynamics and applications of Dissipative Kerr solitons,” which was carried out at EPFL. Dr. Karpov is currently postdoc at CSEM working on his “BRIDGE: Proof-of-Concept” and Hans-Eggenberger Foundation grant projects.

Dr. Karpov aims to transfer the photonic technologies he developed during his PhD towards real-world industrial applications.

Results in brief

Dr. Karpov obtained his Master’s in Physics and Applied Mathematics from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT). During his PhD, he worked with microresonator-based optical frequency combs (microcombs), exploring intrinsic nonlinear and thermal properties of driven optical microresonators that enable the generation of femtosecond-short optical pulses – dissipative Kerr solitons. He also helped demonstrate several new applications of microcombs in coherent optical communications, ultrafast distance measurements (LiDAR), and optical computing of convolution neural networks.

“It is a true honor to receive such outstanding recognition for my Doctorate work by the EPS. This wouldn’t have been possible without the immense support of my family, friends, and my colleagues within and outside of EPFL.”

More information about the prize at https://qeod.epsdivisions.org/