Aleksandra Foltynowicz
Umeå Universitet, SwedenFor outstanding and sustained contributions to research in precision molecular spectroscopy and frequency comb spectrometers.
Aleksandra Foltynowicz distinctly remembers discovering her passion for spectroscopy. She began her academic career studying general physics and optometry at Adam Mickiewicz University in her home country, Poland. General physics because she excelled in math and physics, and optometry because she wanted a clear career path after school. Then, one of her optics courses offered an opportunity to visit a spectroscopy lab for a brief demonstration. Aleksandra recalls, “The professor showed us the setup, and I cannot explain it, but it was the moment I realized, ‘This is what I want to work with.’ It was so fascinating.” From that point on, she pursued this newfound interest. She moved to Umeå University, Sweden, as an exchange student and joined Ove Axner’s group. After completing her PhD with Ove, she moved to the United States for her postdoc at JILA, University of Colorado at Boulder, where she worked with Jun Ye. There, she learned about frequency combs, and she now applies these techniques in her lab back at Umeå University.
Today, she is an experimental spectroscopist, and her group develops and applies techniques based on frequency combs for precision spectroscopy of molecules. She focuses in particular on developing new methods with improved sensitivity, precision, and resolution, and using them for broadband high-resolution spectroscopy of molecules relevant to astrophysics and environmental sensing. Recently, her group started using a nonlinear technique, double resonance spectroscopy, which she explains “allows us to use frequency combs to reach very highly excited states of molecules, which are relevant for high-temperature spectra, like those observed from hot-Jupiter exoplanets.”
Aleksandra also shares that there is a renaissance of “Laboratory Astrophysics,” driven by the need for increasingly more accurate molecular spectral models to analyze the data gathered from new telescopes. As her group’s experimental results advance, they have forged many beneficial collaborations with theoreticians to provide such models. This also leads to important implications in environmental sensing. She shares, “Quite often, the same molecule detected in an exoplanetary atmosphere is relevant as a greenhouse gas on Earth. So, although we do all measurements in our lab, this connection to the outer world and other disciplines is fascinating.”
A highlight of the research process for Aleksandra is seeing a measurement agree or disagree with the theory; both outcomes are informative. When both sides agree, the rest of the process, like optimizing and reporting, comes along quite easily. When there is disagreement, determining whether the experiment or the theory needs adjustment becomes an excellent opportunity to explore something new. Aleksandra enjoys collaborating with other experimentalists and theoreticians, including former group members who continue to pursue complementary research. She also collaborates with senior researchers; one in particular is Kevin K. Lehmann at the University of Virginia, with whom she works on double-resonance spectroscopy.
Sometimes, like with Kevin, collaborators can become mentors, or students or early career researchers can find a mentor in a teacher or advisor. Other times, mentors are found through matching programs. This is how Aleksandra found a mentor in Anne L’Huillier. Aleksandra shares that she might not have contacted Anne alone, but with the help of a mentor matching program of the Wallenberg Foundation, she has forged a valuable relationship. Aleksandra reflects, “We are very few women in the field of lasers and spectroscopy, and Anne has been a true inspiration. She’s an extremely nice person and very open to sharing the kind of advice and encouragement that you need as a woman in physics.”
Looking back over her career so far, Aleksandra credits her outstanding foundational education in Poland and later the hands-on laboratory experience and open climate for young researchers she encountered in Sweden. Now, as her career develops, she has the opportunity to give back. Recently, she became an Associate Editor for Optics Express, which has been an important learning experience and perspective shift. She also participates in her university’s mentor match program as a mentor herself, sharing, “I know how much it means to get to talk to someone who has gone a few steps ahead. So I'm trying to give back what I got to someone else.”
Photo courtesy of Aleksandra Foltynowicz
Profile written by Samantha Hornback
