Laurens Molenkamp

Laurens W. Molenkamp
Laurens W. Molenkamp. Photo credit to Erwin Molenkamp
Born	1956 Garrelsweer, Netherlands
Residence	Germany
Nationality	Dutch
Fields	condensed matter physics
Institutions	University of Würzburg
Known for	topological insulators
Notable awards	2010 Europhysics Prize 2012 Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize 2013 Physics Frontiers Prize 2014 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize

Laurens W. Molenkamp is a Professor of physics and Chair of Experimental Physics at the University of Würzburg. He is known for his work on semiconductor structures and topological insulators.

Laurens W. Molenkamp is an experimental condensed matter physicist. He received his Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the University of Groningen, and spent several years first with Philips Research Laboratories in Eindhoven and then as Associate Professor at the RWTH in Aachen. He came to the University of Würzburg in 1999 and is now the Chair of Experimental Physics 3 and leads the II-VI MBE (molecular beam epitaxy) unit. His research interests include quantum transport in nanostructures, semiconductor spintronics, and optical spectroscopy of semiconductors. He was a co-recipient of the American Physical Society 2012 Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize for his experimental observation of the quantum spin Hall effect, opening up the field of topological insulators. Since 2012, he has been the Editor of the physics journal Physical Review B. He was a 2013 Physics Frontiers Prize laureate (shortlisted for the Fundamental Physics Prize). Thomson Reuters included him on their annual prediction shortlist for the 2014 Nobel Prize for Physics for his experimental research, with Charles L. Kane and Shoucheng Zhang, on the quantum spin Hall effect and topological insulators.