Physicist and technologist
with a decade in financial markets.

Equity Investor & Trader

Independent

Equity investor and trader in US equities and US equity index futures — discretionary, systematic and automated approaches across all time frames. Deep knowledge of world economy, financial markets and business valuation. Focused on identifying macroeconomic trends and sector dynamics, initiating single-name equity trades within that context. Proficient in trading earnings reports, central bank events and macro announcements. Active every single day.

• Achieved a record of 142% return on personal net worth in a single year — Sharpe ratio of 3.5 & Sortino ratio of 4.9.
• Self-taught through years of in-depth study and disciplined, journaled simulation trading.
• Turned a fascination into a profession.

Semiconductor Laser Chip Designer & Project Manager

TRUMPF Laser GmbH

Semiconductor laser chip designer and project manager for GaAs- and GaN-based high-power pump laser modules and direct-diode applications — pushing efficiency at elevated power levels through iterative epitaxial design. Managed multi-million USD project portfolios, team coordination and budget planning, driving significant cash flow and networking effects. Evaluated and visualized large statistical datasets using Python, including lifetime degradation tests across hundreds of devices. Represented the team to external international scientific consortia and partners, and worked closely with TRUMPF Photonics Inc. in New Jersey.

• Projects drove subsidiaries’ transition from pure R&D towards fully-automated production site.
• Acted as spokesperson for the R&D team — keeping internal and external activities focused and on track.
• My customized chip designs were produced in the semiconductor fab of TRUMPF Photonics Inc., USA, driving alterations of the current generation benchmark designs employed in products.

Semiconductor Laser Researcher

Ferdinand-Braun-Institut gGmbH - Leibniz-Institut für Höchstfrequenztechnik

R&D on high-power GaAs-based diode lasers — iterative epitaxial design engineering, running experiments, publishing papers, finding new physics in messy data. I was involved across the full development cycle, from epitaxial design through to the finished device, with oversight across process engineering, cleaving, passivation, coating, mounting, assembly and testing. Regular in-person collaboration with TRUMPF Photonics in New Jersey and TRUMPF Laser in Berlin. Presented at international conferences in Japan and the USA.

All research projects here were funded by TRUMPF and related to my PhD.

• World record — emitted 1 kW of continuous laser power from a single 1 cm-wide GaAs-based laser bar.
• Developed and patented the Extreme-Triple-Asymmetric (ETAS) epitaxy structure for improved efficiency at very elevated optical power levels. Patent
• Created Python-based software with a GUI for optical modeling of epitaxial layer stacks — reducing time expenditure by a factor of 20.

PhD (Dr. rer. nat.) / Semiconductor Physics

Technical University Berlin

Grade: Magna Cum Laude

Thesis: Epitaxial Design Optimizations for Increased Efficiency in GaAs-Based High Power Diode Lasers

Purchase Thesis here.

Abstract: This work presents progress in the root-cause analysis of power saturation mechanisms in continuous wave (CW) driven GaAs-based high-power broad area diode lasers operated at 935 nm. Target is to increase efficiency at high optical CW powers by epitaxial design. The novel extreme triple asymmetric (ETAS) design was developed and patented within this work to equip diode lasers that use an extremely thin p-waveguide with a high modal gain. An iterative variation of diode lasers employing ETAS designs was used to experimentally clarify the impact of modal gain on the temperature dependence of internal differential quantum efficiency (IDQE) and optical loss. High modal gain leads to increased free carrier absorption from the active region. However, less power saturation is observed, which must then be attributed to an improved temperature sensitivity of the IDQE. The effect of longitudinal spatial hole burning (LSHB) leads to above average non-linear carrier loss at the back facet of the device. At high CW currents the junction temperature rises. Therefore, not only the asymmetry of the carrier profile increases but also the average carrier density in order to compensate for the decreased material gain and increased threshold gain. This carrier non-pinning effect above threshold is found in this work to enhance the impact of LSHB already at low currents, leading to rapid degradation of IDQE with temperature. This finding puts LSHB into a new context for CW-driven devices as it emphasizes the importance of low carrier densities at threshold. The carrier density was effectively reduced by applying the novel ETAS design. This enabled diode lasers to be realized that show minimized degradation of IDQE with temperature and therefore improved performance in CW operation.

This PhD was sponsored by TRUMPF, conducted with full-time employment at Ferdinand-Braun-Institut — Leibniz-Institut für Höchstfrequenztechnik.

Master of Science / Theoretical Physics

Technical University Berlin

Grade: 1.8 ^¹

Thesis: Effect of spontaneous emission lifetime on the linear stability properties of a nanocavity laser

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Courses

Theoretical Physics · Higher Mathematics · Higher Experimental Physics · Theoretical Plasma Physics · Astrophysics · Planetary Science · Physics of Thin Layer Solar Cells · Theoretical Laser Physics · Experiments at Berlin Electron Storage Ring Society for Synchrotron Radiation (BESSY II Berlin) · Numerical Methods of Astrophysics (C++ intensive course)

^¹ German grading scale — 1.0 is the highest mark.

Bachelor of Science / Theoretical Physics

Technical University Berlin

Grade: 1.6 ^¹

Thesis: Microscopic investigations into aspects of quantum dot-based solar cells

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^¹ German grading scale — 1.0 is the highest mark.