Ilja Fescenko

Ilja Fescenko started his academic career at the Laser Center of the University of Latvia in 2007, and two years later obtained a master's degree for laser spectroscopy of magneto-optical effects in diatomic molecules. Then he began doctoral studies by continuing the previous research under the guidance of Prof. Marcis Auzinsh. Meanwhile Ilja Fescenko also made several visits to the MPQ in Germany, where he worked in the group of Prof. Theodor Hänsch. He studied the stabilization of laser frequency using miniature whispering gallery mode crystal resonators. After finishing his doctoral studies, Ilja worked for one year in Fribourg, Switzerland, in the group of Prof. Antoine Weis. He dealt there with all-optical atomic magnetometers, and launched research for the visualization of weak magnetic fields. This project, together with the two previous ones, formed the basis of Fescenko’s doctoral thesis, which was defended after his returning to Latvia. One of the committee members of Ilja’s thesis was Prof. Dmitry Budker from UC Berkeley.Since January 2016, Dr. Ilja Fescenko has worked in the Quantum nanophotonics and biosensing lab as a postdoctoral fellow, where he is applying his skills in magnetometry and optics to develop new kinds of optical magnetic sensors.