Philip Franke develops laser wakefield acceleration applications

“What can physicists do? ” is an interview series that profiles physicists who opted for careers outside of academia.

What was your PhD research focus?

Shaping ultrashort laser pulses for laser–plasma applications.

What were you looking for in a job?

I had my heart set on working in academia or at a national lab. I find it fulfilling to develop technology that is close to impacting people’s lives. Mostly what pushed me into the private sector was my personal circumstances: My wife and I needed jobs in the same city.

How did you get your job?

I cold-emailed my undergraduate adviser and asked if he had a postdoc opening. He said he was starting a company, TAU Systems. It would pursue applications in laser wakefield plasma acceleration, which allows you to accelerate electrons with a small footprint and is cheaper than high-RF accelerators. It seemed like it had legs. There are lots of potential applications. TAU’s overarching goal is to feed a free-electron laser. I started in 2022.

How do you spend your time?

I lead an experimental R&D team. I spend more time than I would like in meetings. I design small-scale strategies to meet broader goals. I coordinate with others at the company to plan experiments and design diagnostics. And I spend a lot of time doing hands-on research.

What do you like most about your job?

I enjoy working with high-power lasers. I like that I work on a lot of different projects. My favorite thing about the job is working with smart, motivated people.

You use your physics background in your work; what new skills have you needed?

I’ve had to learn how to coordinate people and to negotiate. The hardest thing is achieving results with constraints, mostly in human resources but also financial. Understanding how to navigate shared resources throughout the company has been difficult.

I’ve also learned new pieces of engineering. It’s fun, but it means I have to expose my ignorance about new topics. That can be uncomfortable, but it’s the only way you really learn new things outside your area of expertise.