26. March 2026

DGKK Young Scientist Award for Dr. Moritz Badtke

The researcher made a significant contribution to the further development of laser crystals

Experimental laser setup with glowing green and blue optical fibres

Moritz Badtke's research focused on Tb:ZBLAN fiber lasers © IKZ

The 2026 DGKK Young Scientist Award is awarded to Dr. Moritz Badtke for his outstanding dissertation in the field of novel laser crystals. With this award, the German society for crystal growth (DGKK) honors exceptional scientific achievements by early-career researchers in the field of crystal growth.

Dr. Badtke completed his doctorate in November 2025 with summa cum laude in the research group “Center for Laser Materials,” led by Dr. Christian Kränkel, at the Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung (IKZ).

In his work, he investigated rare-earth-doped fluoride crystals with emission in the visible spectral range and realized various new laser transitions. Particularly noteworthy are his studies on Tm-doped crystals, in which he demonstrated laser operation at 820 nm, 1510 nm, as well as in the blue and red spectral regions. In addition, Moritz Badtke worked on Tb-doped laser crystals. In the yellow spectral range, he achieved laser efficiencies of up to 61% under cryogenic cooling, which is the highest value reported for any directly yellow-emitting solid-state lasers to date.

Since the beginning of 2026, Dr. Badtke has continued his research at the Fraunhofer Institute of Optronics, System Technologies and Image Exploitation (IOSB) in Karlsruhe.

Through his innovative work, he made a significant contribution to the development of laser crystals for novel and efficient laser sources in the visible spectral range. We warmly congratulate Dr. Moritz Badtke on this well-deserved award.