Max Planck Research Group Leaders

Birgit Stiller

Dr. Birgit Stiller · CPTS

Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light · Erlangen, Germany

Email
birgit [dot] stiller [at] mpl [dot] mpg [dot] de

Biography

Birgit Stiller is an experimental physicist and the leader of an independent Max Planck Research Group on “Quantum Optoacoustics” at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL) in Erlangen, Germany. From 2015 to 2019 she held a position as Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Sydney (Prof. Benjamin Eggleton), Australia, working on integrated photonic circuits.

Before that she was a Postdoctoral Researcher in the field of quantum communications, specifically quantum key distribution and quantum hacking at the MPL (Prof. Gerd Leuchs). She received her PhD from the CNRS Institute FEMTO-ST and the University of Franche-Comte in Besancon, France, where she was one of the pioneers on Brillouin scattering in photonic crystal fibers (Dr. Thibaut Sylvestre, Dr. Jean-Charles Beugnot).

Dr. Stiller has authored two book chapters, 30 journal articles, and more than 90 conference and workshop contributions, including five postdeadline papers. She is the recipient of the Prix A’Doc 2011 of the University of Franche-Comté (France) and she received scholarships from the Cusanuswerk and the CNRS.

Education and positions held

  • 2015-2019:
    • Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Sydney
  • 2012-2015:
    • Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light
  • 2012-2012:
    • Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the CNRS FEMTO-ST Institute, Besancon, France
  • 2009-2012:
    • PhD thesis at the CNRS FEMTO-ST Institute, Besancon, France

Research Summary

Our research fields of interest span from nonlinear optics to quantum optics with a focus on light-sound interactions and waveguide optomechanics. The physics of optical waves interacting with acoustic or mechanic vibrations is fascinating because it links two very different domains in terms of frequency, velocity, dissipation, and other properties.

Our aim is to explore this interaction experimentally at the classical and quantum level with suitably engineered microstructured fibers and nanowaveguides to manipulate, in this way, light states.

Key publications

  • Coherently refreshed acoustic phonons for extended light storage,
    B. Stiller*, M. Merklein*, C. Wolff, K. Vu, P. Ma, S. J. Madden, and B. J. Eggleton,
    Optica 7 (5), 492-497 (2020).
    arXiv:1904.13167.
  • Crosstalk-free multi-wavelength coherent light storage via Brillouin interaction,
    B. Stiller*, M. Merklein*, C. G. Poulton, K. Vu, P. Ma, S. J. Madden, and B. J. Eggleton,
    APL Photonics Vol. 4, Issue 4, 040802 (2019).
    arXiv:1803.08626.
  • A chip-integrated coherent photonic-phononic memory
    M. Merklein*, B. Stiller*, K. Vu, S. J. Madden, and B. J. Eggleton,
    Nature Communications 8, 574 (2017).
    arXiv:1608.08767.
  • Quantum-limited measurements of optical signals from a geostationary satellite,
    K. Günthner*, I. Khan*, D. Elser, B. Stiller, Ö. Bayraktar, C. R. Müller, K. Saucke, D. Tröndle, F. Heine, S. Seel, P. Greulich, H. Zech, B. Gütlich, I. Richter, M. Lutzer, S. Philipp-May, R. Meyer, C. Marquardt, and G. Leuchs,
    Optica, Vol. 4, Issue 6, 611-616 (2017).
    arXiv:1608.03511.
  • Risk analysis of Trojan-horse attacks on practical quantum key distribution systems,
    N. Jain, B. Stiller, I. Khan, V. Makarov, C. Marquardt, and G. Leuchs,
    IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, Vol. 21, Issue 3 (2014).
    arXiv: 1408.0492.

* Equally contributed.