Prof. Dr. Heinz-Wilhelm Hübers
The physicist is developing terahertz systems for applications in astronomy, planetary research, and civil security at DLR
Heinz-Wilhelm Hübers was born in 1965. He studied Physics and Medicine at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in Bonn. After receiving the Diploma degree in Physics (1991) he worked on a PhD thesis at the Max-Planck-Institute for Radioastronomy and the University of Bonn. The topic was Terahertz-Spectroscopy of astronomically relevant molecules. During this time he spent nine month at NIST and NASA Ames Research Center in the USA.
In 1994, after receiving the PhD, he moved to the Institute of Space Sensor Technology of the German Aerospace Center in Berlin-Adlershof, where he became head of department in 2001. He was coordinator of the European security research project “TeraSec” and he is co-investigator of the heterodyne receiver GREAT, which will be implemented on SOFIA, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy.
H.-W. Hübers received the Innovation Award in Synchrotron Radiation (2003) and the Lilienthal Award (2007). In 2008 he became spokesman of the focus area “Terahertz-Technology” of OpTecBB. H.-W. Hübers received a habilitation degree from the University of Stuttgart.
Since July 1st 2009 Heinz-Wilhelm Hübers is Professor for experimental physics with focus on terahertz spectroscopy at the TU Berlin. The professorship is in combination with a position as head of the department „Experimental Planetary Physics” at DLR.
H.-W. Hübers is married. His wife is working as physician. They have three children who are going to school.
Current research topics
Since the time of the diploma thesis H.-W. Hübers is working on spectroscopy and technology in the terahertz spectral region. He is especially interested in the development of lasers and detectors. These include intracenter and Raman silicon lasers, quantum cascade lasers, and detectors based on thin superconducting films.
Heinz-Wilhelm Hübers is developing terahertz systems for applications in astronomy, planetary research, and civil security. Another focus of his research activities is experimental planetary physics. This is the investigation of minerals and different sorts of ice, which are similar to those materials found or suggested to exist on planetary bodies. These materials are investigated in the laboratory under simulated planetary conditions. By these means one can learn about the mineralogy and geochemistry of planetary surfaces and interpret data from planetary missions.
Contact: Prof. Dr. Heinz-Wilhelm Hübers, e-mail: Heinz-Wilhelm.Huebers(at)dlr.de