Following the award of the Swiss Marcel Benoist Prize 2025, EPFL is pleased to host a public lecture by Professor Tobias J. Kippenberg, honouring his pioneering contributions at the interface of light and mechanics.
This event offers an accessible introduction to how microresonators are reshaping both our understanding of quantum physics and the future of photonic technologies.
In this lecture, Professor Kippenberg will explore how tiny optical resonators, structures that confine light on a microchip, can be used to both control mechanical motion at the quantum level and generate highly precise optical frequency combs. His work in quantum optomechanics has revealed how light can be used to measure and manipulate the motion of mechanical systems with unprecedented sensitivity, opening new windows onto quantum phenomena in macroscopic objects.
At the same time, his discovery and development of soliton microcombs, optical frequency combs generated in microresonators, has enabled the creation of compact, chip-scale devices that produce precisely spaced optical frequencies. These “rulers of light” are transforming technologies ranging from high-speed optical communications to precision timing, spectroscopy, and sensing. By bringing together fundamental physics and integrated photonics, this research has turned complex laboratory systems into scalable, robust technologies with wide-ranging applications.
PROGRAMME
7:00pm – 9:00pm (door opening 6:45pm)
- Welcome address (Anna Fontcuberta i Morral, President of EPFL)
- Introduction (Didier Queloz, President of the Marcel Benoist Foundation)
- Lecture: “Light in Motion: Microresonators, Quantum Optomechanics, and Chip-Scale Frequency Combs” (Tobias J. Kippenberg, 2025 Marcel Benoist Prizewinner)
- Q&A
- Aperitif
- Moderator: Olivier Dessibourg, Scientific Journalist
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