Ludwig-Genzel-Prize:

Ludwig Genzel (1922 - 2003)

• The Ludwig-Genzel-Prize is awarded to a young scientist for exceptional contributions to the field of condensed-matter spectroscopy. Related to Ludwig Genzel's scientific oeuvre the focus is on the far-infrared spectral range.
• The award contains a diploma and prize money of €4000 . Bruker Optics (Ettlingen) is the sponsor of this prize.
• The prize is awarded every two years during the International Conference on Low Energy Electrodynamics in Solids (LEES).
• The selection is made by a committee.
• Nominations should be submitted to the chairman of the selection committee by March 1^st, 2012.

Current members of the selection committee:

• Martin Dressel (Univ. Stuttgart, Germany), chairman
• Leonardo Degiorgi (ETH Zürich, Switzerland)
• Jan Petzelt (Academy of Sciences, Praha, Czech Republic)
• Karl Renk (Univ. Regensburg, Germany)
• Hartmut Roskos (Univ. Frankfurt, Germany)

Awardees:

2004 Kloster Banz	Prof. Dimitri Basov (UC San Diego, U.S.A.)
The Ludwig-Genzel-Prize 2004 is awarded to Prof. Dimitri Basov for his important work on the optical spectroscopy of solids. His infrared investigations significantly advanced our understanding of the high-temperature superconducting materials.
2006 Tallinn	Prof. Dr. Mathias M. Schubert (University of Nebraska Lincoln, U.S.A.)
The Ludwig-Genzel-Prize 2006 is awarded to Prof. Dr. Mathias M. Schubert for his contributions to generalized infrared spectroscopic ellipsometry and application to numerous problems in solid state science. Mathias Schubert's achievements include both theory and application of spectroscopic ellipsometry. Over the years he advanced as the leading scientist in generalized ellipsometry. His work on complex and anisotropic materials, films and structures is pioneering. Examples are semiconductor layer structures, wurtzite ZnO films, organic pentacene films, or orthorhombic Sb2S3. The development of far-infrared magneto-optic ellipsometry in the far-infrared and THz spectral range is another accomplishment mainly driven by Mathias Schubert which allows for determination of the free-carrier parameters in semiconductors, for instance.
2008 Vancouver	Dr. Ricardo Lobo (Laboratoire Photons et Matiere - CNRS UPR 5, Paris)
The Ludwig-Genzel-Prize 2008 is awarded to Dr. Ricardo Lobo for his contributions to the optical spectroscopy of superconductors and the development of far-infrared pump-probe experiments. Ricardo Lobos achievements include investigations of kinetic-energy changes across the superconducting transition in hole-doped cuprates by measuring the optical response from the far-infrared to the deep-UV. His work on the normal state gap in electron-doped materials also brings new insight in this controversial issue. Ricardo Lobo significantly contributed to the realization of novel pump-probe experiments at Brookhaven National Laboratories utilizing a Ti:sapphire laser synchronized to the VUV synchrotron storage ring. This allowed him to investigate the pair recombination dynamics in superconductors and gap energy shift in the photo-exited state. His most recent achievements are in the field of multiferroics, in particular the investigation of the lattice dynamics.
2010 Les Diablerets The Ludwig Genzel-Prize 2010 is awarded to Prof. Dr. Alfred Leitenstorfer (Universität Konstanz, Germany) for pushing the limits of ultrafast optical spectroscopy and applying it to fundamental problems in condensed matter physics. Homepage LEES 2010
2012 Napa,Calif	Dr. Alexey Kuzmenko( University de Geneve,Switzerland
The Ludwig-Genzel-Prize 2012 is awarded to Dr. Alexey Kuzmenko of the University de Geneve for his seminal work on graphene and for his important contributions to the optical investigations of novel superconductors. He first observed the universal optical conductance in graphite that is not destroyed by interlayer hopping. His continuous efforts in the field of high-Tc superconductors made important contributions to the issue of spectral weight shift between visible and infrared frequencies. He clarified the optical properties of the two-band superconductor MgB2. The Award in particular acknowledges the development of the RefFIT algorithms for the optical data analysis that is widely used by the infrared community all over the world.