Markus Sigrist

Development and implementation of widely tunable infrared laser sources, e.g. by difference frequency generation

Development and application of sensitive and selective monitoring methods such as multipass absorption, photoacoustics and cavity ringdown

Development of algorithms for spectral analyses of multi-component mixtures

Development of low-cost photoacoustic gas sensors

Application of laser-spectroscopic schemes in various areas (environment, agriculture and industry). Recent applications in medical diagnosis include analyses of exhaled breath, of surgical smoke (smoke production in laparoscopic surgery with electro-knives), of doping agents in urine samples as well as studies on non-invasive glucose sensing.

Markus W. Sigrist heads the group "Laser Spectroscopy and Sensing" at the Institute for Quantum Electronics of ETH Zurich. In 1996 he was awarded the title of Professor for Experimental Physics.

Born September 6, 1948 in Illnau ZH, he studied physics at ETH Zurich. He performed his PhD thesis in the Laboratory for Solid State Physics with Prof. F.K. Kneubühl and received his PhD degree from ETH in 1977. From 1978 to 1980 he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California at Berkeley (USA). Back at ETH he completed his habilitation received the docent degree (Privatdozent) in 1985. After a sabbatical at Rice University in Houston, Texas (USA) in 1990, he was awarded the title of Adjunct Professor at Rice in 1994. In 2003 he was an invited professor at the Université du Littoral in Dunkerque, France.

His current research focuses on the development, implementation and application of tunable mid-infrared laser sources and sensitive detection schemes for laser-spectroscopic analyses ranging from environmental, industrial and agricultural applications to medical diagnostics.

The present teaching activities of Markus Sigrist include special courses on lasers and laser applications for students of various disciplines (engineering, physics, chemistry) as well as a course on quantum physics for students from environmental and earth sciences.

Markus Sigrist is author and co-author of over 140 publications in refereed journals as well as of several book chapters, encyclopedia series, and books. He coauthored the well-known german textbook entitled „Laser“ with F.K. Kneubühl (Vieweg+Teubner, 7^th ed., 2008), and edited the book entitled „Air Monitoring by Spectroscopic Techniques“ (Wiley, New York, 1995). 

Markus Sigrist is a fellow of the Optical Society of America (OSA) since 1999 and a member of various national and international societies and committees. He is a board member of the Swiss Society of Optics and Microscopy (SSOM) since 1993. He is also a member of the editorial board of various scientific journals and a regular member of international conference committees.