F. Javier García de Abajo: The 2025 SPIE Mozi Award

F. Javier García de Abajo, ICREA Professor and Nanophotonics Group Leader at ICFO – The Institute of Photonic Sciences, is an expert in the science of light and its interaction with free electrons, atoms, molecules, and nanostructures. Through seminal theoretical works, he has predicted and explained new phenomena that include collective electron excitations – plasmons – in atomic-scale systems such as molecules and nanographenes; complete optical absorption by atomic layers; ultrafast electron-beam interactions with localized optical fields; strong coupling between molecules and localized optical resonances; and ultrafast radiative heat transfer. At the same time, he maintains an intense research agenda, covering a wide range of topics and involving an extended network of collaborators in the fields of surface science, physical chemistry, electron microscopy, plasmonics, and nanophotonics. Recently, he embarked on the study of ultrafast light-electron interactions – a research frontier in the field of electron microscopy that is rapidly advancing towards a combined space/energy/time resolution in the sub-nanometer/sub-femtosecond/sub-millielectronvolt domain. García de Abajo has produced foundational works in this area to establish a solid theoretical framework to study such ultrafast interactions. His theoretical contributions are helping in the explanation and design of experiments, and he is both an inspiration and a solid reference for groups in this swiftly expanding community.

The recipient of two consecutive European Research Council Advanced Grants to extend his research into the use of free electrons to investigate and manipulate nanomaterials, García de Abajo has been presenting his research at SPIE conferences since 2006. He has also contributed to a range of SPIE Conference Program Committees on topics ranging from metamaterials and photonic materials, devices, and applications, to plasmonics, quantum nanophotonics, and advances in ultrafast condensed phase physics at a variety of SPIE conferences, including SPIE Photonics Europe, SPIE Optics + Photonics, and SPIE/COS Photonics Asia.

“A very striking characteristic of Professor García de Abajo is that, as a theorist and independent creative thinker, he has stimulated experimental work by many research groups,” notes Albert Polman, a professor and Scientific Group Leader of Photonic Materials at the AMOLF research institute in Amsterdam. “This is shown by the fact that he is co-author on a very large number of breakthrough experimental papers by multiple groups all over the world. In fact, I do not know of any other theorist in my research field that is so strongly linked to so many research groups in the world and has impacted their work to such a great extent. He is a world-renowned scientist who carries out work at the highest possible level and has not only created impact in state-of-the-art research areas but has actually defined these areas himself.”

Meet the other 2025 SPIE Society Award recipients.

Read more about F. Javier García de Abajo and the SPIE Mozi Award.