Patrick Hendra Receives an Honorable Mention at the 2025 JOSA B Emerging Researcher Best Paper Prize
Jena | July 16, 2026
For his research on rubidium-doped waveguides for generating correlated photon pairs, Patrick Hendra, a researcher at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF, has received an honorable mention as part of the 2025 Emerging Researcher Best Paper Prize from the Journal of the Optical Society of America B. This work opens up new possibilities for more compact, versatile quantum light sources.
Applications such as quantum communication require controlled generation of photon pairs. Such pairs in an entangled state form the basis for data encryption but are also used in quantum-enhanced imaging and sensor technology. Waveguides represent an attractive platform for generating such photon pairs: Due to their strong confinement of light, they enable more efficient and compact photon pair generation than conventional crystal structures.
In his work, Patrick Hendra utilized a newly developed periodically poled, rubidium-doped KTiOPO₄ waveguide (PPRKTP), employing a laser beam to convert a high-energy photon into a lower-energy correlated photon pair. This process is called spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC). “In my work, I use this to demonstrate a unique property: the simultaneous generation of entangled photon pairs within the same waveguide. One pair exhibits the same polarization (type-0), while the other pair has opposite polarization (type-II),” explains Patrick Hendra, a researcher in the Photonic Quantum Systems Department at Fraunhofer IOF.
As part of the Journal of the Optical Society of America B (JOSA B) Emerging Researcher Best Paper Prize, the selection committee has awarded an honorable mention to Hendra’s research paper “Rubidium-doped KTiOPO waveguides as a dual-type photon-pair source.” In its decision, the jury commended the careful and concise experimental analysis of the research topic, highlighting the potential of these structures for integrated photonics.
“The developed method forms the basis for various quantum-based applications—from quantum communication to quantum-enhanced imaging and sensing technology—and thus paves the way for more compact and versatile quantum light sources,” says the award-winning researcher, summarizing the potential of his work.
Patrick Hendra has been working in the Photonic Quantum Systems department at Fraunhofer IOF in Jena since 2020. His research focuses on the development of novel quantum light sources and their application in the fields of imaging and sensing technology. He currently leads the “Discover” project, which investigates the utilization of quantum light in biochemical applications. Additionally, within an EU-funded project, the scientist is conducting research on the characterization of a state-of-the-art superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD).
Patrick Hendra, Josué R. León-Torres, Valerio Flavio Gili, and Markus Gräfe, “Rubidium-doped KTiOPO4 waveguides as a dual-type photon-pair source,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 42, 1976–1981 (2025). URL: https://opg.optica.org/josab/fulltext.cfm?uri=josab-42-9-1976
Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF