“Electrons make atoms see the light”

Jom Luiten is Full Professor and leader of the Coherence and Quantum Technology group at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). He is interested in fundamental aspects of quantum physics and their application in materials science, nanotechnology and life sciences. One of his major research lines is improving the temporal resolution of electron microscopy, a development with the potential to contribute to all kinds of research and industrial applications. Using their ultracold plasma expertise, Luiten and his group are working on an ultracold electron source that creates electron beams with a much higher degree of transverse coherence than conventional sources of the same size. The electrons are liberated from a cloud of laser-cooled atoms, not from a photocathode. Luiten and his group are also investigating coherent interactions between electrons and light. He is interested both in the coherent manipulation of electron beams with laser light and in coherent generation of X-ray light using electron beams.

Jom Luiten graduated with an MSc in Applied Physics from Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) in 1986 and obtained his PhD in 1993 from Amsterdam University on VUV spectroscopy of magnetically trapped atomic hydrogen. He then took a position at Space Research Organization Netherlands (SRON), where he worked on superconductive X-ray detectors for 4 years. After working as physics engineer at ASML for a year, working on optical alignment of wafers, Luiten took on a position of Assistant Professor at TU/e in 1998, in the group Physics and Application of Particle Accelerators. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2005. Since 2011, Luiten has held the position of Full Professor of Coherent Charged Particle Beams at TU/e, where he leads the Coherence and Quantum Technology group.