Using ultrashort light pulses, Prof. Frédéric Laquai and his team are closely tracking the behavior of electric charges. The reason is that when photons (particles of light) strike semiconductors, they trigger highly complex photophysical processes and at best generate usable charges. The physical chemist studies the processes in solar cells and identifies where energy losses occur. Through his spectroscopic experiments, he aims to identify more efficient materials for energy conversion. Laquai joined LMU Munich in August 2024, where he is involved in research, teaching, and the management team of the in May 2025 approved e-conversion 2.0 Cluster of Excellence.
Tracking photons: Using ultrashort light pulses, Frédéric Laquai investigates the conversion of photons into charges and the subsequent processes involved in charge generation and transport. (Photo: Stephan Höck/LMU)
What initially led you to study chemistry, and how did you come to focus on your current research area, which deals primarily with semiconductor materials?
I was already very interested in the natural sciences at school. I had dedicated teachers who enabled me to participate in the Jugend forscht youth research competition in the late 1990s. The project I submitted focused on organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and won first prize at national level. I was fascinated by the idea of using organic molecules in electronics, which was a very new field back then. During my chemistry studies in Oldenburg and later in Marburg, I specifically looked for ways to continue working in this area. For my diploma thesis, I studied OLEDs and used time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy. I deepened this focus during my PhD at the Max Planck Institute for polymer Research. That laid the foundation for my current research.
What role did your time at the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge and the MPI for Polymer Research in Mainz play?
My two-year postdoc stay in Cambridge starting in 2006 was crucial to my scientific development and my future career. During that time, I focused intensively on femtosecond laser spectroscopy, which allows the detailed investigation of ultrafast electronic processes. I learned how to apply this technique and broadened my perspective on time-resolved phenomena. Equipped with this new knowledge, I returned to the MPI in Mainz to establish and lead an independent junior research group for seven years. We worked extensively on charge transport and energy transfer in organic semiconducting materials. Later, other material systems suchas hybrid (organic-inorganic) perovskites were added to our research.
You then moved to Saudi Arabia. Tell us about your time at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).
That’s right. In 2015, I joined KAUST as Associate Professor of Materials Science, and later I was promoted to Professor of Applied Physics and became Director of the KAUST Solar Center. I spent more than nine years in Saudi Arabia. At KAUST, I was engaged in research and teaching, while I was also heavily involved in managing the Solar Center. I led a sizeable research group consisting of Master and PhD students as well as postdocs and research scientists, and directed the research center comprising ten research groups.
How did your return to Germany and your move to LMU Munich come about?
That was related to the succession of Prof. Thomas Bein in Physical Chemistry at the Department of Chemistry. I applied for the position because LMU Munich seemed like a very attractive and exciting option, not least because of the e-conversion Cluster of Excellence. In the summer of 2024, I took over the W3 professorship for Physical Chemistry and Spectroscopy of Energy Materials at LMU Munich, and my colleagues invited me to join the future speaker team of e-conversion 2.0.
What are your group’s current research priorities?
A main goal of our research is to better understand why energy materials aren’t as efficienct as theoretically possible. We examine the processes – the conversion of photons into charges – in every detail, including charge separation, transport, and extraction. At every stage, losses occur that we aim to understand and ideally reduce.
What are the biggest challenges in the lab right now?
You could say time, or rather, the different timescales on which energy conversion processes occur. Processes like generating excited states through light absorption followed by charge separation often happen in less than 100 femtoseconds up to a few picoseconds. Charge extraction takes place over nanoseconds to microseconds. Then there are degradation processes that unfold over much longer periods, from minutes to days or even longer. To cover this wide range experimentally, we need a variety of time-resolved spectroscopic methods. This requires advanced experimental setups where we delay light pulses against each other on optical tables to carry out the measurements. Many of our experimental setups are at least partly self-constructed, allowing us to go beyond what commercial systems can offer.
Frédéric Laquai’s goal is to uncover structure–property relationships and to drive the development of new and promising materials. (Photo: Stephan Höck/LMU)
What is the overarching goal of your research, and which materials are currently in focus?
We aim to uncover structure–property relationships and derive design rules for developing new materials. To do so, we study not only thin films of semiconducting materials but also complete and functional solar cell devices that we fabricate ourselves. By comparing, for example, absorption spectra in the ground and excited state, we can decode how charge generation occurs in the materials. Our findings then help synthetic chemists to design and synthesize new compounds that convert light into electrical energy more efficiently. The energy landscape of the material plays a key role in this. We want to translate our characterization results into general rules for material development. Much of our current work focuses on novel semiconductor materials, both organic and hybrid types, such as perovskites, particularly aiming to reduce or eliminate lead content. We are also investigating materials that could be useful for photocatalytic water splitting, CO2 reduction, and solar batteries. e-conversion 2.0 offers very promising collaborative opportunities in these areas. After just under a year in Munich, several exciting projects are already underway.
What motivates you personally, and how do you recharge and find new energy?
I’m driven by fundamental research itself: understanding what previously was not understood or observing something entirely new for the first time. That’s what keeps me going and truly inspires me. I’m also passionate about providing young people with excellent scientific training, both my team members and our university students. For me, sport is an important way of relaxing and clearing my mind. In Saudi Arabia, I often went jogging, even in 30°C heat, carrying a water bottle. Here, I regularly hop on my indoor bike. I started flying sports planes about twelve years ago, but I haven’t had much time for that lately. And, of course, my two elementary school-aged sons also keep meon my toes every single day.
Thank you very much for the interesting interview. We wish you all the best and every success in your research at LMU Munich and the e-conversion Cluster of Excellence!
Brief profile
Frédéric Laquai studied chemistry from 1999 – 2003 at the Universities of Oldenburg, Cambridge (UK), and Marburg. He earned his doctorate in 2006 at the University of Mainz and then worked as a postdoc at the University of Cambridge (UK). From 2008 – 2015, Laquai headed an independent junior research group at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz. From 2015 – 2024, he conducted research at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), where he also served as Director of the KAUST Solar Center. Since April 2024, he has held the W3 professorship in Physical Chemistry and Spectroscopy of Energy Materials at the LMU Munich’s Department of Chemistry.