Contact Information:
![]() | Prof. Dr. Alexander Rohrbach IMTEK - Department of Microsystems Engineering | ||
---|---|---|---|
![]() | A. Rohrbach: | +49 761 203-7536 | |
![]() | +49 761 203-7537 | ||
![]() | A. Rohrbach: Secretary: | ||
By train:
Freiburg-Hbf (Central station), then Breisgau S-Bahn (station: Neue Messe / Universität), line 4 (station: Technische Fakultät) or bus line 10 (station: Technische Fakultät)
By car:
Take the autobahn A5 exit "Freiburg Mitte", towards Freiburg. Leave B31a at the turn-off marked "Uni-Kliniken". This will take you onto the Berliner Allee, heading towards the "Messe". The campus is located on the left, just before the Messe.
By airplane:
Approx. 1 hour bus ride from the EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg or 2 to 3 hours by train or car from Frankfurt, Stuttgart or Zuerich airports.
Bio- and Nano-photonics - IMTEK:

Living cells are fascinating microsystems. Therefore we develop novel techniques for laser optical microscopy and optical force based applications, to investigate the biophysics of living cells and of bio-mimetic systems based on their nano-mechanics and thermal fluctuations.
Research Projects:
Nano-mechanics of helical bacteria in optical line traps
Project 1: Spiroplasms – propagation dynamics of the simplest form of life, trapped and scanned in a light tube
Mechanics of phagocytosis
Project 1: The nano-mechanics of phagocytosis
Project 2: Cargo-transport by coupled molecular motors
Project 3: Membrane biophysics with giant unilamelar vesicles (GUV)
Dynamic Particle interactions
Project 1: Interferometric tracking of dynamic particle interactions with scanning line optical tweezers.
Momentum transport through bio-polymer networks
Project 1: We investigate viscoelastic properties of single and multiple microtubules coupled by thermally fluctuating trapped beads as nucleation sites.
Dynamics of MREB filaments inside Bacillus Subtilis
Project 1: With fast SR techniques we investigate cytoskeletal MreB filaments. These move through poorly understood mechanisms underneath the membrane of rod -shaped bacteria and help to organize the cell wall.
Super-resolution microscopy
Project 1: Structured illumination microscopy
Project 2: Rotating coherent scattering (ROCS) microscopy
Light-sheet microscopy (LSM) with self-reconstructing beams
Project 1: LSM using holographically shaped beams
Project 2: LSM using two photon Bessel beams
Project 3: LSM using Bessel beams and the STED principle
Surface Imaging with optically trapped probes
Project 1: Surface scanning with optically trapped probes in the presence of phase disturbing structures.
Plasmonic coupling of two optically trapped particles
Project 1:
Simulations
Project 1: Wave optics
Project 2: Brownian Dynamics