Michèle Heurs (group leader) Callinstraße 36, room 127 michele.heurs@aei.mpg.de +49 511 762-17037

In July 2010 Michèle took up a Junior Professorship at the Centre for Quantum Engineering and Space-Time Research (QUEST) at Leibniz Universität Hannover, Germany. Before that she was a Research Fellow in the group of Prof. E. H. Huntington, University of New South Wales @ the Australian Defence Force Academy (Canberra, Australia). During this time her research was based in the following areas: Modern quantum feedback control of quantum optical systems, continuous variable quantum computing, generation of a comb of squeezed light, measurement induced entanglement, homodyne locking and detection.

Since Dec. 2016 is a professor of experimental physics at Leibniz Universität Hannover. The position carries the denomination “Non-classical laser interferometry”, where applications are of course aimed at future interferometric gravitational wave detectors, but also at precision metrology in quantum optics.

Her current research interests lie in the following areas:

• quantum noise reduction schemes for interferometric gravitational wave detectors (e.g. coherent quantum noise cancellation; recycling techniques with micro-optomechanical oscillators)
• non-classical light sources (high-frequency sub-threshold optical parametric oscillators)
• laser physics (including laser stabilization, novel locking schemes, and non-linear optics)
• precision metrology (obviously interferometric gravitational wave detection, but also stable high finesse optical resonators)
• high-frequency large bandwidth low-noise photodetection (single and homodyne)
• modeling of micro-optomechanical oscillators / membranes
• classical, modern, and coherent control

Michèle is a long-term member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC) (since around 2003, with a break during her PostDoc in Australia 2007 — 2010), and has been a Council Member of the LSC since 2015. She is currently Dean of the QUEST Leibniz Forschungsschule (a faculty-equivalent structure spanning different faculties of LUH), as well as acting co-speaker of the Cluster of Excellence “QuantumFrontiers”. In the two Clusters of Excellence “QuantumFrontiers” (QF) and “PhoenixD” (PxD) she is a Principle Investigator, and Topical Group Leader of the TG “Backaction-evading techniques” in QF.

Selected publications (full publication list can be found here)

• Jonas Junker, Dennis Wilken, Elanor Huntington and Michèle Heurs, High-precision cavity spectroscopy using high-frequency squeezed light, Opt. Express Vol. 29, No. 4 (2021)
• Andrey B. Evlyukhin, Mariia Matiushechkina, Vladimir A. Zenin, Michèle Heurs, and Boris N. Chichkov: Lightweight metasurface mirror of silicon nanospheres, Optical Materials Express Vol. 10, Issue 10, pp. 2706-2716 (2020)
• M. Heurs: Gravitational wave detection using laser interferometry beyond the standard quantum limit , Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A-Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences  376 (2120) (2018)
• D. Schütte, S. Z. Sayed Hassen, K. S. Karvinen, T. K. Boyson, A. G. Kallapur, H. Song, I. R. Petersen, E. H. Huntington, and M. Heurs, “Experimental demonstration of frequency auto-locking an optical cavity using a time-varying Kalman filter”, Phys. Rev. Appl. 5 (1) (2016)
• T. Denker, D. Schütte, M. H. Wimmer, T. A. Wheatley, E. H. Huntington, M. Heurs, “Utilizing weak pump depletion to stabilize squeezed vacuum states”, Opt. Express 23 132 (2015)
• G. Kallapur, D. Schütte, I. R. Petersen, T. K. Boyson, E. H. Huntington, S. Z. S. Hassen, H. B. Song, M. Heurs , “Design and Implementation of an Optical Cavity Locking Controller Test Bed System”, IEEE T CONTR SYST T 23 (2) (2015)
• J. Aasi, . . . , M. Heurs, . . . , “Advanced LIGO”, Class. Quant. Grav. 32 (7) (2015)
• H. Song, H. Yonezawa, K. B. Kuntz, M. Heurs, and E. H. Huntington, “Quantum teleportation in space and frequency using entangled pairs of photons from a frequency comb”, Phys. Rev. A 90 (4) 042337 (2014)
• M. H. Wimmer, D. Steinmeyer, K. Hammerer, M. Heurs, “Coherent cancellation of backaction noise in optomechanical force measurements”, Phys. Rev. A 89 (5) (2014)
• J. Aasi, . . . , M. Heurs, . . . , “Enhanced sensitivity of the LIGO gravitational wave detector by using squeezed states of light”, Nature Photonics 7 (8) (2013)
• M. Heurs, J. G. Webb, A. E. Dunlop, C. C. Harb, T. C. Ralph, E. Huntington, “A high-speed quantum channel for multiplexed quantum communications”, Phys. Rev. A 81 (3) (2010)
• S. Z. Sayed Hassen, I. R. Petersen, E. Huntington, M. Heurs, M. R. James, “LQG control of an optical squeezer”, Proceedings of the American Control Conference (2010) pp. 2730-2735
• M. Heurs, I. R. Petersen, M. R. James, E. Huntington, “Homodyne Locking of a Squeezer”, Opt. Lett. 34 (16) (2009)
• E. Huntington, C. C. Harb, M. Heurs, T. C. Ralph, “The Quantum Noise Limits to Simultaneous Quadrature Amplitude and Phase Stabilization of Solid-State Lasers”, Phys. Rev. A 75 (1) (2007)
• M. Heurs, T. Meier, V. M. Quetschke, B. Willke, I. Freitag, and K. Danzmann, Intensity and frequency noise reduction of a Nd:YAG NPRO via pump light stabilization, Appl. Phys. B 85 (1) (2006) 79-84
• F. Seifert, P. Kwee, M. Heurs, B. Willke, and K. Danzmann, Laser power stabilization for second generation gravitational wave detectors, Opt. Lett. 31 (13) (2006) 2000-2002
• B. Willke, K. Danzmann, C. Fallnich, M. Frede, M. Heurs, P. King, D. Kracht, P. Kwee, R. Savage, F. Seifert, and R. Wilhelm, Stabilized High Power Laser for Advanced Gravitational Wave Detectors, J. Phys.: Conf. Series 32 (2006) 270-275