Preface: Phys. Status Solidi C 6/2
Authors: Meier Torsten , Michler Peter 
Published: February 2009

The 9th International Workshop on Nonlinear Optics and Excitation Kinetics in Semiconductors (NOEKS 9) took place in Klink/Müritz, Germany, from 26–29 May, 2008. This meeting continued the successful international conference series that has been held in Germany since 1987.

The NOEKS 9 was outstandingly well organized by Heinrich Stolz and his coworkers from the Department of Physics, University of Rostock. Similar to the previous meetings, this workshop focused on the dynamics of optical excitations in semiconductors and semiconductor nanostructures and related subjects and material systems. The presentations covered the entire area from basic experimental and theoretical investigations towards more applied and device related research of optical and optoelectronic systems. The workshop provided an excellent overview of recent advances in this rapidly advancing international research field.

The main topics of this meeting were ultrafast dynamics, low‐dimensional and nanostructured systems, semiconductor quantum optics, spin effects, semiconductor based quantum information processing, organic semiconductors, and new laser physics. On these subjects, 33 invited and upgraded talks were presented and further interesting results were presented in 68 posters. The NOEKS 9 was attended by 112 participants from 14 countries which demonstrates the great international interest in these research fields.

Lively discussions took place during the oral and poster presentations. Particular attention was received by experimental and theoretical papers on novel quantum optical properties and concepts, quantum information, and spin effects. Many of these investigations and proposals rely on semiconductor quantum dots as active material. Furthermore, interesting novel results on the ultrafast dynamics, nonlinear optical and lasing properties of other systems, e.g., semiconductor quantum wells, organic systems, metal surfaces, and hybrid semiconductor–metal nanostructures were presented and discussed.

The conference took place in a beautiful setting near the village Klink on the area of the Müritz Hotel just off the shore of Lake Müritz. This setting stimulated further discussions during walks along the lakeside. The conference excursion started on a warm and sunny day with a boat trip to the city of Waren where sightseeing tours for small groups were organized. From there another boat trip brought us to the Rittersaal (Knight's Hall) in the picturesque village Mirow where we had a medieval dinner with an interesting and entertaining supporting program. The dinner talk by Liesbeth Venema (Senior Editor for Nature) caught particular attention and presented some humorous and amusing sides of the interaction between authors, referees, and editors.

The entire conference program was running very smoothly and took place in an open atmosphere where all participants, whether old and young, experimental or theoretical, …, had plenty of opportunities for close interactions. We all have to thank Heinrich Stolz and his team for their outstanding job.

During the NOEKS 9 meeting the organizers of the next NOEKS workshops have already been determined, i.e., Torsten Meier and Artur Zrenner (NOEKS 10, 2010, University of Paderborn) and Peter Michler (NOEKS 11, planned 2012, University of Stuttgart). For these organizers it will be a challenge to keep up with the high standards set by the NOEKS 9 (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)