The History of the IPQ

An impact on history and society.
IPQ
IPQ
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Horst Rothe
IPQ
Prof. Dr. techn. Gerhard K. Grau
IPQ
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr. h. c. Wolfgang Freude
IPQ
Prof. Dr. Franz X. Kärtner
IPQ
Prof. Dr. sc. nat. Jürg Leuthold
IPQ
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christian G. Koos - Prof. Dr.-Ing. Sebastian Randel
 
 1954: Professorship for "Elektrische Nachrichtentechnik" (Electrical Communications Engineering) was established.
  1956: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Horst Rothe was appointed as the professor for "Elektrische Nachrichtentechnik" (Electrical Communications Engineering).
  WS 1958/1959: First mentions of an "Institut für Hochfrequenztechnik und Hochfrequenzphysik" (Institute of High Frequency Technology and High Frequency Physics) were made and implemented. (This was 70 years after conduction of the famous Hertz experiments in Karlsruhe)
  1961: The construction of the "Nachrichtentechnik (NTI)" (Communications Technology) building was completed and the "Institut für Hochfrequenztechnik und Hochfrequenzphysik" (Institute of High Frequency Technology and High Frequency Physics) moved into the new building.
  1967: The "Technische Hochschule" (Technical University) was renamed as "Universität Karlsruhe (TH)" (University of Karlsruhe). Prof. Dr. techn. Gerhard K. Grau was appointed as Prof. Rothe's successor. A re-orientation of research activities towards optical amplifiers and oscillators followed. The transition from maser to laser was made. Prof. Grau has continued to stay a loyal member of staff at IPQ for the past 55 years and still continues to lecture at the institute to this day (2023).
  WS 1971/1972: The "Institut für Hochfrequenztechnik und Hochfrequenzphysik" (Institute of High Frequency Technology and High Frequency Physics) was officially renamed and became the "Institut für Hochfrequenztechnik und Quantenelektronik (IHQ)" (Institute of High Frequency Technology and Quantum Electronics).
  Starting in 1975: Prof. Grau and Prof. Freude's work in the field of optical communications engineering lead to the establishment of Germany's first degree program in "Optische Nachrichtentechnik" (Optical Communications Engineering). This program focused on the Gbit/s range, directly modulated laser diodes, low-noise photodiodes, multi- and single-mode optical fibers, synthetic holograms and speckle interferometry.
  Since 1985: Heterodyne methods from the field of high-frequency engineering were transferred to the optical frequency range and work on so-called "coherent optical communications engineering" commenced.
  1998: Prof. Grau retired and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr. h. c. Wolfgang Freude became the acting director of the institute. During this time work on microwave photonics to generate and transmit microwave signals by optical means was one of the main foci of the institute. Further fields of research were the work on photonic crystals and the development of simulation programs using fast wavelet methods for nonlinear transmission in optical fibers. Prof. Freude has also stayed loyal to IPQ and has lectured here for the past 24 years and continues to do so to this day (2023).
  1999: Prof. Dr. Franz X. Kärtner was appointed as Prof. Grau's official successor. The main research interests now lay in ultrafast laser technology, nanophotonics and electrochemical nanostructuring. Nanothechnology was promoted by  the Center for Functional Nanostructures (CFN). Prof. Kärtner then moved to MIT in Boston in the year 2002.
  2004: Prof. Dr. sc. nat. Jürg Leuthold was appointed as Prof. Kärtner's successor. Prof. Leuthold renewed the institute's focus on the communication aspects of photonics during his time as director of IHQ. Prof. Leuthold was later appointed to the ETH in Zurich in 2012.
  2009: The "Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT)" (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) was founded.
  WS 2009/2010: The "Institut für Hochfrequenztechnik und Quantenelektronik (IHQ)" (Institute of High Frequency Technology and Quantum Electronics) was renamed to "Institut für Photonik und Quantenelektronik (IPQ)" (Institute of Photonics and Quantum Electronics).
  2010: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christian Koos was appointed and became Prof. Leuthold's successor in 2013.
  2016: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Sebastian Randel was appointed as co-director alongside Prof. Koos of the "Institut für Photonik und Quantenelektronik (IPQ)" (Institute of Photonics and Quantum Electronics).

 

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