Mete Atatüre

Mete Atatüre is a Turkish physicist working in experimental solid-state quantum optics, born in Kayseri on 19 February 1975. He works at the Cavendish Laboratory of the University of Cambridge, where he leads the Quantum Optical Materials and Systems (QOMS) group of about thirty PhD students and research staff, is a co-founder and chief science officer of the spin-out Nu Quantum Ltd, and has been Head of the Cavendish Laboratory since October 2023. ^{1 2}

Atatüre was born in Kayseri in 1975 to a family of immigrant origin on both sides, who were living there because of his father's military service. He completed his secondary education at Gazi Anatolian High School in Ankara in 1992, and took his bachelor's degree in physics at Bilkent University in 1996. ^{3 1}

He did his PhD at Boston University in the United States, in the Quantum Imaging Laboratory, completing it in 2002 with a thesis titled "Multiparameter Entanglement and Quantum Interferometry". He then moved as a postdoctoral researcher to the Quantum Photonics Group of Ataç İmamoğlu at ETH Zurich in Switzerland, where he received his venia legendi for long-lasting work on the full control of semiconductor quantum dots. ¹

He joined the Cavendish Laboratory in June 2007 as a University Lecturer and Fellow of St John's College, and was subsequently promoted to Reader in 2011 and to full professor in 2015, before becoming head of the Cavendish Laboratory in October 2023. ¹

His group's contributions at Cambridge include, as the article presents them, fundamentals of quantum light via resonance fluorescence, quantum control of atomic nuclei, diamond-based spin-photon interfaces for quantum networks, and new functionalities from two-dimensional materials, including the first atomically thin quantum light-emitting diode. ¹

Atatüre is a member of the Institute of Physics in England, the Science Academy of Turkey, Academia Europaea and Optica in the United States, and was a Distinguished Visiting Professor of the Chinese Academy of Sciences between 2010 and 2014. ¹

He is a prominent advocate of science communication: he has given six TEDx talks on quantum physics, light, science and diversity, and he is a popular scientific figure in Turkey, where Turkish GQ named him one of its Men of the Year for 2015 and nicknamed him "Professor Laughter" for his enthusiasm in presenting his research. ¹

He received the Institute of Physics' Thomas Young Medal and Prize in 2020 and was elected a member of Academia Europaea in 2021. ¹

• The defined source entities cited above, recorded in data/source/.