Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize
Award year: 2021
Category: Award / Honour
Type: Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize
Awarding organization: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
Prof. Peter Hommelhoffs ground-breaking experiments have resulted in several breakthroughs in the field of ultrafast electron control. As a postdoctoral researcher in Stanford, he developed an electron source capable of emitting electrons at the femtosecond timescale. He also demonstrated strong field physics for the first time on solid state surfaces. However, Peter Hommelhoff has not only significantly influenced the area of light field electronics during the last ten years. Based on his excellent work on electron sources, he has opened up a whole new field of research, namely into laser acceleration of electrons on photonic structures.