Max-Planck-Institut für die Physik des Lichts

To produce a specific optical effect, photonic chips typically rely on a single, specific material. Researchers at MPL have now used two different materials within the same component, thereby combining two nonlinear optical effects.

The results, recently published in Advanced Photonics, demonstrate how materials with complementary properties can work together and expand the capabilities of integrated photonic circuits. This approach could inform future applications ranging from high-resolution spectroscopy and telecommunications to LiDAR and supercontinuum generation.

“The experiments show that a layer normally considered a support structure can become an active component of a photonic device. Instead of a single material having to provide all the desired optical properties, our approach allows different materials to contribute the functions they perform best,” says Arghadeep Pal, the paper’s lead author and a Ph.D. student in the Del'Haye Research Lab.

Read more 👉 https://mpl.mpg.de/news/article/two-materials-double-the-effect-max-planck-scientists-develop-hybrid-photonic-chips-capable-of-converting-light-colors

Original publication in Advanced Photonics 👉 https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/journals/advanced-photonics/volume-8/issue-04/046008/Hybrid-nonlinear-effects-in-photonic-integrated-circuits/10.1117/1.AP.8.4.046008.full

📸 Authors of the study at MPL: Alekhya Ghosh, Postdoc at MPL, Arghadeep Pal, Doctoral Student at MPL and Pascal Del’Haye, Research Group leader at MPL (from left to right) © MPL

📸 Hybrid nonlinear interactions in an integrated system: a pump laser initiates Raman scattering in the cladding of the ring resonator, which yields a broad frequency comb via four-wave mixing in the core material © Alekhya Gosh (created with AI assistance)

Meet Eleni Dalaka: Identifying the link between cell mechanics and cancer progression

Eleni Dalaka’s research focuses on how mechanical cell forces, multicellular physical interactions and mechanical plasticity shape cancer metastasis. Her lab at Max-Planck-Zentrum für Physik und Medizin uses novel optical techniques to image and quantify the mechanical state of cancer cells and organoids, and identify the link between cell mechanics and cancer progression. With her group at MPZPM Eleni Dalaka also studies how the tumor microenvironment shapes tumor progression and plasticity, and works towards identifying novel, mechanical signatures to improve cancer therapies, and specifically immunotherapies.

Her curiosity and inquisitive nature led Eleni Dalaka to study physics at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) and the University of St Andrews, receiving her PhD in Physics in 2020. She completed her postdoctoral research at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), working on bioengineering, tumor immunology and mechanobiology, developing novel tumor models. Since July 2025, Eleni Dalaka has been leading the “Cancer Biomechanics” group at MPZPM, advancing research at the intersection of physics and medicine.

“I really enjoy the process of researching: designing experiments, measuring mechanical forces, analyzing cell behaviors, and trying to understand how cells apply forces, move, and interact with each other and their implications in cancer progression,” Eleni Dalaka says. “Complex phenomena are particularly interesting and intriguing to me.”

Explore more 👉 https://mpzpm.mpg.de/research/eleni-dalaka
📸 MPL

Research Group Eleni Dalaka “Cancer Biomechanics”

The extracellular matrix (ECM) is a complex network in the spaces between cells. Its composition and architecture regulates various biological processes in health and disease. Scientists at the Max-Planck-Zentrum für Physik und Medizin (MPZPM) have stained and imaged the extracellular matrix protein fibronectin in a 3D in vitro system. This allows researchers to visualize the spatial distribution of this major ECM protein in three dimensions and study its role in cancer metastasis and tumor immune evasion.

This picture shows a maximum projection of a 3D cell model (a so called spheroid) of connective tissue cells called fibroblasts (yellow) that have secreted a network of fibronectin (magenta).

👉 https://mpzpm.mpg.de/research/eleni-dalaka
📸 Eleni Dalaka

CEWQO30: International event series brings quantum physicists to Erlangen

The international forum “Central European Workshop on Quantum Optics” (CEWQO) provides researchers with a platform to exchange ideas on current developments in quantum optics and quantum communication during its annual conferences.
The 30th edition took place July 20–24 in Erlangen, jointly hosted by FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg and MPL.

“This conference was very successful because it combined traditional topics such as quantum metrology and quantum communication with entirely new areas, such as research at the interface between quantum optics and strong-field physics, or quantum effects in optoacoustics,” says Prof. Maria Chekhova, co-organizer of CEWQO30. She leads the “Quantum Radiation” research group at MPL and holds a professorship at FAU.

Read more 👉 https://mpl.mpg.de/news/article/cewqo30-international-event-series-brings-quantum-physicists-to-erlangen

📸 MPL, Gesa Prophet

☀️ What a great atmosphere yesterday during the partial solar eclipse on the MPL rooftop terrace!

There’s a physical phenomenon behind why sunlight looks so extraordinary during a partial solar eclipse: limb darkening. The Sun isn’t a uniformly bright disk – at its center, we’re looking into deeper, hotter layers, while at the edge, we’re only seeing higher, cooler layers. That’s why the edge is darker and redder – the light changes.

✨ Those who were patient enough could also enjoy the Perseids yesterday: the meteor shower that can be observed every year around this time in August.

And here’s what happens so we can observe it: Dust particles from Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle enter Earth’s atmosphere and collide with air molecules. Their surface v***rizes, metal atoms are knocked out, become excited in the process, and glow – creating a cloud of metal v***r that’s only a few meters thick but kilometers long. Or, to put it more simply: a shooting star. They appear in the sky coming from the northeast.

Special thanks to Tim Hebenstreit and Susanne Viezens for capturing the mood yesterday! 📸

☀️ Quantum entanglement generated by sunlight for the first time

Scientists have demonstrated that sunlight, as a natural light source, can generate quantum-entangled photon pairs. With their findings, the international research team challenges the long-held assumption that lasers are indispensable for preparing quantum states of light. The study recently published in Optica opens a path toward new sustainable and energy-efficient photonic quantum technologies.

“Sunlight is an abundant and reliable resource in many environments, especially in space. Being able to generate quantum-entangled photons directly from sunlight could enable simpler and more resilient quantum systems for satellites and future deep-space missions,” says Dr. Hanieh Fattahi, research group leader at MPL.

“The best part of this research is that it is only a beginning”, says Prof. Robert W. Boyd, University of Ottawa. “In addition to SPDC, there are many other nonlinear optical approaches to generate entangled photons–four-wave mixing is one good example. For each of these nonlinear interactions, there are ways to make it more efficient. We believe this work can inspire much new research in nonlinear and quantum optics, and these researches may in turn make sunlight-driven quantum technology more practical.”

Original publication in Optica 👉 https://doi.org/10.1364/OPTICA.601797

📸 Florian Sterl and Soledad Cook, Stephan Spangenberg, uOttawa

🧠 Research team is getting closer to creating an AI physicist

With SciExplorer, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL) are introducing an AI science agent that can be deployed across a broad range of physical experiments. Based on a large language model, this artificial scientist agent is a generalist: it is capable of automating the process of scientific research without the need for task-specific fine-tuning. The results were recently published in Physical Review X.

“Because a large variety of modern physics experiments are controlled through code-based interfaces, in the future SciExplorer could be directly applied to laboratory settings. This could be helpful for complex fluids, cold atomic gases, strongly correlated electronic and spin systems, or quantum simulators,” says Maximilian Nägele, a doctoral student and first author.

“We are now living in an era in which Artificial Intelligence can solve expert-level scientific questions, without having been trained on specific tasks. The evolution is rapid, and in the next few years we will experience important breakthroughs in science based on these techniques,” adds Florian Marquardt.

Read more 👉 https://mpl.mpg.de/news/article/research-team-is-getting-closer-to-creating-an-ai-physicist

Original Publication in Physical Review X 👉 https://doi.org/10.1103/xnqc-q6nt

📸 MPL, Stephan Spangenberg, Susanne Viezens

Physics Meets Medicine: Early-career researchers present their work

The next generation of emerging scientists gathered at Max-Planck-Zentrum für Physik und Medizin (MPZPM) from July 20 to 21. The “Physics Meets Medicine” symposium offered the eleven scientists the opportunity to actively shape and advance research at the intersection of physics and medicine as research group leaders at MPZPM.

See more 👉 https://mpl.mpg.de/news/article/networking-and-supporting-the-next-generation-two-symposia-in-july-at-mpzpm

📸 MPL