Besides gaining fundamental insights to the many-body quantum theory, his work has provided new possibilities to develop, e.g., laser technology, based on accurate computer simulations.
Stephan W. Koch studied physics at the University of Frankfurt,[4] obtained his doctorate 1979 about the theory of electron–hole droplet nucleation in strongly excited semiconductors[5] under the supervision of Hartmut Haug.
[6] During 1981–83, he was a postdoctoral fellow and visiting scientist at the IBM Research, San Jose/California and received habilitation in 1983 about the dynamics of equilibrium and non-equilibrium first-order phase transitions,[7] from the Department of Theoretical Physics of the University of Frankfurt.
In 1986, he became professor at the Physics Department and Optical Sciences Center of the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ, and in 1989, he accepted a chair there.
[8] Stephan W. Koch has very close ties with the research efforts at the Optical Sciences Center, University of Arizona, where he has been an adjunct professor and an active collaborator since 1994.
During the late 1980s, quantum-dot systems started to catch a significant research attention worldwide due to their intriguing quantum-confinement properties.
Several of his ongoing projects focus on problems arising in the area of modern semiconductor quantum optics, microcavities, and laser theory.