PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Christoph Becher

Christoph Becher is an experimental physicist whose research links diamond color centers and single photons with quantum networks. He coauthored work on a quantum-dot single-photon turnstile in 2000, a study of silicon-vacancy states in 2014, and work on a cavity-enhanced photon source in 2017. He was elected to acatech in 2020; his collaborations demonstrated atomic entanglement over fiber links up to 33 km in 2022, quantum-state teleportation over urban fiber in 2024, and teleportation with quantum dots in 2025. He has been a professor at Saarland University since 2005, where he teaches Experimental Physics IVa and studies diamond color centers for single-photon sources and spin-photon interfaces.

Born
1967
Works
263
Citations
15,105
h-index
53
Badges

Years link to their sources. Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 2000

    A quantum-dot single-photon turnstile

    In 2000, he coauthors with Peter Michler and colleagues the paper “A quantum dot single-photon turnstile device.”

  2. 2014

    Modeling silicon-vacancy states

    In 2014, he coauthors a study that models the electronic states of negatively charged silicon-vacancy centers in diamond and explains spin-selective excitation.

  3. 2017

    A cavity-enhanced photon source

    In 2017, he coauthors work coupling silicon-vacancy centers in nanodiamonds to a tunable optical microcavity to produce a high-efficiency single-photon source.

  4. 2020

    Elected to acatech

    In 2020, he joins acatech, Germany’s Academy of Technical Sciences, as an elected member.

  5. 2022

    Entanglement over 33 km

    In 2022, he coauthors a demonstration of heralded entanglement between two independently trapped single rubidium atoms over telecom fiber links up to 33 km.

  6. 2024

    Teleportation over urban fiber

    In 2024, he coauthors a demonstration of quantum entanglement distribution and state teleportation over a 14.4-km urban dark-fiber link.

  7. 2025

    Quantum-dot photon teleportation

    In 2025, he coauthors a demonstration of full-photonic quantum teleportation using semiconductor quantum dots.

  8. Since 2005

    Professor at Saarland

    In 2005, he becomes a professor of quantum optics at Saarland University. In 2026, he teaches Experimental Physics IVa as a professor of experimental physics; his group studies diamond color centers and their spin properties for deterministic single-photon sources and spin-photon interfaces in quantum networks.

Career

  1. Since 2006Saarland UniversityProfessor of Experimental Physics
  2. 2001–2010Universität Innsbruck
  3. 2000–2003University of California, Santa Barbara
  4. 1997–2004University of Kaiserslautern

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

  1. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Saarland University. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.
  2. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes Saarland University. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.
  3. Google has the highest combined h-index among AI organizationsIncludes Saarland University. We estimate that Google holds the highest combined h-index at 8,016, while universities account for 73% of the deduplicated total across AI organizations.
  4. 11% of AI doctorate holders from 2010 to 2016 founded or led a company or lab by 10 years after graduationIncludes Saarland University. We estimate how often AI doctorate holders founded or led a company or lab by 10 years after graduation, how waiting times compare between founders and top jobs, and which universities trained the most.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

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  1. Publikationen | Prof. Dr. Christoph Becher | Universität des Saarlandes uni-saarland.de. Checked 22 October 2026.
  2. Electronic Structure of the Silicon Vacancy Color Center in Diamond | Phys. Rev. Lett. journals.aps.org. Checked 22 October 2026.
  3. Cavity-Enhanced Single-Photon Source Based on the Silicon-Vacancy Center in Diamond | Phys. Rev. Applied journals.aps.org. Checked 22 October 2026.
  4. Physiker Christoph Becher in die Deutsche Akademie der Technikwissenschaften aufgenommen nachrichten.idw-online.de. Checked 22 October 2026.
  5. Entangling single atoms over 33 km telecom fibre | Nature nature.com. Checked 22 October 2026.
  6. Demonstration of quantum network protocols over a 14-km urban fiber link | npj Quantum Information nature.com. Checked 22 October 2026.
  7. Telecom-wavelength quantum teleportation using frequency-converted photons from remote quantum dots | Nature Communications nature.com. Checked 22 October 2026.
  8. Prof. Dr. Christoph Becher | Naturwissenschaftlich-Technische Fakultät | Universität des Saarlandes uni-saarland.de. Checked 22 October 2026.
  9. Vorlesung Experimentalphysik IVa (Festkörperphysik I) | Prof. Dr. Christoph Becher | Universität des Saarlandes uni-saarland.de. Checked 22 October 2026.
  10. Research | Prof. Dr. Christoph Becher | Universität des Saarlandes uni-saarland.de. Checked 22 October 2026.