Prof. Dr. Alexander Föhlisch

Head of the institute of methods and instrumentation for research with synchrotron radiation at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin

Alexander Föhlisch studied physics at Tübingen, received a M.A. in physics with a Fulbright scholarship at SUNY at Stony Brook and concluded his studies at Hamburg University with a diploma thesis in X-ray microscopy. In his Doctoral research the nature of the surface chemical bond was investigated at the Advanced Light Source in Berkeley (USA) leading to a PhD in Physics at Uppsala University in the group of Nils Martensson and Anders Nilsson.

He then joint the group of W. Wurth at Hamburg University, where he received his habilitation in experimental physics on ultra-fast dynamics on the atomic scale, and conducted research at DESY with the first X-ray laser FLASH.

The research activities of Alexander Föhlisch take place at leading national and international X-ray sources. He is a guest professor at the Institute for Solid State Physics of Tokyo University and a member of the soft X-ray materials science consortium at the Linac Coherent Light Source at SLAC.

Research Areas

At the core of Alexander Föhlischs research stands the investigation of the electronic structure and the ultrafast dynamics on the atomic scale with innovative X-ray methods to address fundamental questions on charge transfer and molecular dynamics on interfaces, the phase transitions and switching processes in solids as well as the nature of chemical bonding and femtochemistry occurring at active centres on surfaces and in the liquid phase.

Thus he has continually contributed in the development and the application of time resolved femtosecond X-ray methods at leading X-ray sources and universities, with contributions to attosecond charge transfer on surfaces, the nature of surface chemical bonding and the chemical and magnetic properties of nanoparticles as well as to the development of time-resolved X-ray methods for molecular dynamics and ultrafast switching in condensed matters.

With his joint appointment to the University of Potsdam and the “Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie”, Alexander Föhlisch is now leading the institute of methods and instrumentation for research with synchrotron radiation, where he will continue to push the frontiers in synchrotron radiation research towards highest energy, momentum and time resolution to see how electronic structure and ultrafast dynamics on the atomic scale interplay.

Contact: Prof. Dr. Alexander Föhlisch, e-mail, tel. +49-30/6392-4985, www.helmholtz-berlin.de