Associate Professor Ido Kaminer of the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Technion recently won an ERC Consolidator grant. The grants support select scientists who propose pioneering, groundbreaking research ideas – presented by the European Research Council (ERC).

Prof. Kaminer and his team will use the grant to develop a theory and innovative experimental platform for a new field in electron microscopy: Q-in-PINEM. The research combines use of an electron microscope with a femtosecond pulsed laser, which is the first system of its kind in Israel and one of just a few in the entire world. The system’s spatial and temporal resolution is 10 times better than conventional microscopes, providing unprecedented capabilities in physics and materials research. In addition, their work on light-matter interactions in nanophotonics and 2D materials is leading to disruptive applications for novel light sources (e.g. X-ray sources for spectroscopy) and ultrafast detectors (e.g. scintillators for medical imaging).

A third generation Technion alumnus, Prof. Kaminer received his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees from the University. He heads the AdQuanta Lab in the Viterbi Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering and is affiliated with the Helen Diller Center for Quantum Science, Matter, and Engineering, and the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute at the Technion. He is a physicist and electrical engineer who studies the frontiers of photonics, quantum optics, and laser-driven electron acceleration, using both theoretical and experimental methods.