MSc. Trieu Doan An, a PhD candidate in Theoretical Physics & Mathematical Physics, currently a researcher at the DTU Institute of Fundamental & Applied Science (IFAS), has won the 2025 Young Researcher Award in Physics.
MSc. Trieu Doan An with the 2025 Young Researcher Award in Physics - Photo: DTU
Encouraging and motivating young scientists
The award for Young Researcher was initiated in 2009 by The Vietnam Theoretical Physics Society to recognize brilliant young physicists nationwide. This well-known annual award is presented to one young Vietnamese researcher who has come up with the most significant research in the field of Theoretical Physics over the past three years.
This initiative is widely supported, with a meaningful goal of encouraging and motivating young scientists to pursue scientific research passionately, while also recognizing their significant contributions to the field of Theoretical Physics.
In 2025, the award was presented to MSc. Trieu Doan An from Duy Tan University, a prominent young researcher.
Graduated with a degree in Physics Education and a Master's degree in Atomic & Nuclear Physics from HCMC University of Education (HCMUE), MSc. Trieu Doan An worked at the Computational Physics Department at HCMUE and was a visiting scholar in the Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics Research Group at the University of Connecticut (USA).
He later officially became a member of the DTU Institute of Fundamental & Applied Science (IFAS), to continue his advanced research career.
MSc. Trieu Doan An's primary research focus is on laser-matter interactions and the use of lasers to probe the structure and dynamic processes of matter. In the course of his research, MSc. Trieu Doan An has completed a cluster of three closely related works, including:
- "Universality in odd-even harmonic generation and application in terahertz waveform sampling," published in Physical Review A in 2023.
"Analytically controlling laser-induced electron phase in sub-cycle motion," published in Physical Review A (Letter) in 2024.
- "Laser-target symmetry breaking in high-order harmonic generation: From frequency shift to odd-even intensity modulation," published in Physical Review A (Letter) in 2024.
These three works were also the ones MSc. Trieu Doan An submitted for consideration and were awarded the 2025 Young Researcher Award in Physics.
MSc. Trieu Doan An presents research at the 50th Vietnam Theoretical Physics Conference - Photo: DTU
MSc. Trieu Doan An’s three scientific works primarily focus on studying the interaction between high-intensity lasers and gas-phase atoms and molecules.
The result of this interaction is the emission of light at frequencies many times higher than the frequency of the original laser, a phenomenon known as High-order Harmonic Generation (HHG).
More specifically, these studies focus on two phenomena: (1) intensity modulation and (2) frequency shift of the HHG light emitted from a laser-target system that has lost its symmetry (more technically referred to as Symmetry Breaking).
"In the second paper published in Physical Review A, from the observed phenomenon, we proposed a method to control the phase of electrons in ultra-short time intervals, around 10^-15 seconds.This method aligns with the global research trend of delving into the natural world at extremely small spatial scales (atomic excitation levels), with material motions occurring at ultra-fast time scales (ranging from 10^-18 to 10^-12 seconds). Immediately afterward, in the third research paper, my colleagues and I published our findings on the first-ever unification of two phenomena -intensity modulation and frequency shift - attributed to the same origin: the symmetry breaking of the laser-target system. This serves as a foundation for further research into a wide range of symmetry-breaking agents. It should be emphasized that in basic science, unifying phenomena is a general trend aimed at generalizing the laws of physics, laying the groundwork for subsequent studies," said MSc. Trieu Doan An.
At the 50th Vietnam Theoretical Physics Conference, MSc. Trieu Doan An also presented these three research papers in the opening session of the conference.
MSc. Trieu Doan An is the author of six international papers published in ISI-indexed journals, three of which are first-author papers published in Physical Review A, and two of which are in the Physical Review A (Letter) category, ranked in the Nature Index.
A Valuable Encouragement
MSc. Trieu Doan An expressed his excitement upon receiving the 2025 Young Researcher Award in Physics: "This award is a recognition from the Vietnamese Theoretical Physics community, and a valuable encouragement that motivates me to continue my journey in scientific research.
After completing my Master's degree, I chose to stay in Vietnam to further my studies and develop my career. I see that more and more educational institutions and funding programs are focusing on investing in the development of the national scientific community.
Among these institutions, DTU stands out not only for the quality of its teaching but also as one of the pioneers in developing research institutes, providing an environment rich in opportunities for scientists to advance their careers.
For this reason, I decided to pursue my doctoral program at DTU, and I am determined that this will be the place where I build my long-term scientific research career, with the hope of making a meaningful contribution to the development of the university and the country's scientific community."
(Media Center)