Toward the discovery of new quantum phenomena that have yet to be observed

Prof. Ido Kaminer of the Viterbi Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering won an ERC Consolidator grant from the European Research Council.

ERC Consolidator grants support select scientists who propose pioneering, ground-breaking research ideas. The grant will be used by Prof. Kaminer’s research team to develop a theory and innovative experimental platform for a new field in electron microscopy: Q-in-PINEM. The research will focus on creating new quantum states and identifying unique quantum properties for materials.

“The goal of the project is to research new quantum phenomena that haven’t been observed and access them for the first time thanks to our ability to control the wave properties of free electrons,” Prof. Kaminer explains. “We are planning to produce the first-ever many-electron entangled states and measure the quantum correlations produced on extremely short periods of time, occurring for electrons moving at a big fraction of the speed of light.”

The physics of free electrons is a field that has been studied for many years and has already led to many applications such as microwave ovens, particle accelerators, and free-electron lasers. However, breakthroughs by Prof. Kaminer’s research group prove that even in this old/established field, there is still a great deal to be discovered, and in recent years his team made new discoveries and unprecedented observations involving the interaction of material, light and free electrons.

Prof. Ido Kaminer of the Viterbi Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering

This month, Prof. Kaminer was also awarded the Lem Prize, named for the science fiction author Stanislav Lem. The Lem Prize is awarded annually to a young researcher whose creative work in science or engineering has the potential to positively impact the future of civilization. Stanislav Lem, who wrote classic novels like Solaris, is considered the Polish writer who is the most famous around the world. The prize in his honor was established two years ago to mark 100 years since his birth, and it is dedicated to the principal aspects of his literary heritage: human beings, science, technology, progress and the future. Prof. Kaminer is the third scientist to win the prize.

Prof. Kaminer pursued all of his academic degrees at the Technion: a double B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering and Physics and a Master’s and PhD at the Department of Physics under the supervision of Distinguished Prof. Moti Segev. He joined the Technion’s Viterbi Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2018, following a post-doctoral fellowship at MIT, and established the AdQuanta Lab in the Faculty. Prof. Kaminer is a member of the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute (RBNI), the Helen Diller Quantum Center, and the Solid State Institute.

In 2020, Prof. Kaminer made the list of TheMarker’s Most Promising Young People. In 2022, he won the $2.5 million Polymath Prize awarded by the Schmidt Futures Foundation to “outstanding people who are improving the world.” He also won the Lomb Medal, Krill Prize, Blavatnik Award, and other prizes bestowed by the Israeli Physics Society and the American Physical Society.