Kippenberg leads the Laboratory of Photonics and Quantum Measurements (K-Lab) at EPFL, pioneer of chip-scale microresonator frequency combs and cavity optomechanics. Research directions: (1) Soliton microcombs — dissipative Kerr solitons in Si3N4 microresonators for massively parallel coherent optical communications, precision ranging/LiDAR (Science 2018, Nature 2017); dual-chirped microcomb parallel ranging at megapixel rates; (2) Room-temperature quantum optomechanics — phononic-crystal-patterned Si3N4 membrane-in-the-middle cavity reduces frequency noise 700×, observing quantum backaction at room temperature (Nature 2024); (3) Superconducting circuit optomechanics — topological lattices, electromechanical sensing (Nature 2022); (4) Free-electron–photon interactions in microresonators. Spin-off companies and strong industry ties. Over 85,000 citations, h-index ~80.
Novotny leads the Photonics Lab with a primary focus on levitodynamics. Research directions: (1) Ground-state cooling of levitated nanoparticles — demonstrated quantum control and motional ground state cooling of silica nanospheres in cryogenic free space (Nature 2021) and all 6 degrees of freedom simultaneously via coherent scattering (Nature Physics 2023); (2) Quantum delocalization and matter-wave interference of levitated nanoparticles (arXiv 2408.01264, 2024); (3) Cavity-mediated long-range interactions between multiple levitated nanoparticles, enabling collective quantum sensing arrays; (4) Optical cold damping, measurement-free coherent feedback (PRL 2025); (5) 2D optoelectronics — graphene/hBN/TMD-based laser detectors and modulators. Heavily cited levitodynamics review (Science 2021, joint with Quidant). Group feeds into applications in quantum-limited force sensing and macroscopic quantum tests.
Quidant leads the Nanophotonic Systems Laboratory, developing hybrid integrated levitation platforms combining optical and RF fields. Research directions: (1) Measurement-free coherent optical feedback cooling of levitated nanoparticles (PRL 2025, phonon occupations ~100s); (2) Quantum sensing applications — ultra-sensitive force/acceleration sensing, directional dark matter detection with levitated sensors; (3) Meta-atom levitation — Mie-resonance high-permittivity particles in optical traps for extreme light-matter interaction; (4) Optofluidics — structured light for photothermal fluid control; (5) Cancer phototherapy — photothermal nanoparticle applications. Pioneer in nanoplasmonic tweezers, thermoplasmonics, and on-chip biosensing. Key co-author of Science levitodynamics review (2021).