Justus Liebig University Giessen (JLU) is awarding the Röntgen Prize this year to Dr Adriana Pálffy-Buß. Since completing her doctorate, the prize winner has been conducting research in the theory division at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg. She is receiving the award for her outstanding contributions in the field of theoretical atomic and nuclear physics, in particular, for the development of a new control mechanism for X-ray quanta.
Dr Adriana Pálffy-Buß was one of the first in the relatively new research field of X-ray quantum optics to demonstrate in ground-breaking theoretical work, how to control single X-ray photons by means of suitable nuclear transitions. This innovative technology opens up opportunities for the development of new ultracompact information storage.
The predictions of the physicist were recently confirmed experimentally at DESY in Hamburg. The theoretical and experimental work with the participation of Dr Adriana Pálffy-Buß has been published in numerous prestigious journals. She has also published significant works on the interaction of X-ray lasers with atomic nuclei, which promises an interesting application for storing energy.