Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Techniques IPMProf. Dr Karsten Buse is Director of Fraunhofer IPM. Associated with this position is the professorship for Optical Systems at the neighbouring Department of Microsystems Engineering IMTEK of the University of Freiburg. This has succeeded in establishing a link between university research and the industrial implementation of research results.
Since October 2019, Karsten Buse is chairman of the Fraunhofer Group for Light & Surfaces and member of the twelve-strong Presidential Council.
Prior to this, the expert in optical technologies was a professor at the University of Bonn, where he held the Heinrich Hertz endowed chair of Deutsche Telekom AG for more than 10 years. His main areas of research are in optical materials and non-linear optics. Buse developed novel laser light sources, optically parametric oscillators as well as optical sensors and filters. In his investigations, Buse attaches great importance to suitability for use in specific applications, as his numerous patents show. In addition to this, his cofounding of the Californian company Ondax (now part of Coherent, Inc.) – where he was a member of the management board for many years – testifies to his enormous experience in industry-related research and development.
Karsten Buse completed his undergraduate and postgraduate studies at the University of Osnabrück. In 1997, after finishing his habilitation thesis (post-doctoral degree) in the field of optical materials, he first went as a DFG postdoctoral research fellow to the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, USA, where he was soon appointed »Visiting Professor«. Up until the year 2007 – at the same time as his activities in Bonn – this was where he pressed ahead with research in the field of optical data storage and ultra fast optical switches.
