Prof. Dr. Lukas Novotny
Prof. Dr. Lukas Novotny
Full Professor at the Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering
Additional information
Research area
Professor Novotny’s expertise lies in the broader fields of photonics and optoelectronics. His main research interest is understanding and controlling light-matter interactions on a nanometer scale with applications ranging from ultrasensitive detection and metrology to efficient and directional photon emission.
Lukas Novotny has been a Professor of Photonics at the Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering since 2012.
He has completed a diploma in electrical engineering at ETH Zurich in 1992 and went on to obtain a PhD (Dr. sc. techn.) from the same university in 1996. For his PhD thesis Light Propagation and Light Confinement in Near-field Optics, he collaborated with IBM Research Division in Ruschlikon.
In his professional career, Lukas Novotny was a research fellow at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA (1996-1999) before becoming an assistant and subsequently associate professor of optics at the University of Rochester in Rochester, NY, USA (1999-2007).
In 2007 he was appointed professor of optics and physics at Rochester. Before joining ETH Zurich, he spent a sabbatical year at ICFO, the Institute de Cienciès Fotòniques in Barcelona, Spain and has since then been a Distinguished Invited Professor there.
Honours
| Year | Distinction |
|---|---|
| 2010 | AAAS Fellow for his distinguished contribution to nano-optics and electromagnetic theory |
| 2007 | OSA Fellow for his contributions to the field of nanoscale spectroscopy and for leadership in the community of near-field optics |
| 1997 | ETH-Medal: Die Auszeichnung wird jährlich von der ETH Zürich für herausragende Promotionen vergeben |
| 1997 | M.T. Thomas Award, awarded annually by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for outstanding postdoctoral achievements |
| 1996 | AWU Fellowship grant awarded by the Associated Western Universities |
Additional information
Professor Novotny holds eight patents.
Lukas Novotny is married and has two children. He is a mountain biker and sailor, and enjoys wine and cooking.
Course Catalogue
Spring Semester 2025
| Number | Unit |
|---|---|
| 227-0052-10L | Electromagnetic Fields and Waves |
| 227-0663-00L | Nano-Optics |