Tenio Popmintchev (born 1977) is a Bulgarian-American physicist specializing in ultrafast lasers and coherent X-ray science. He is an Assistant Professor of Physics at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), where he leads the Popmintchev LABS focused on quantum X-ray technology. Popmintchev is known for his pioneering work in developing tabletop X-ray lasers capable of generating coherent extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and soft-to-hard X-rays, enabling attosecond imaging of quantum systems. His research has applications in imaging advanced quantum materials, EUV lithography metrology, and ultrafast spectroscopies, pushing the boundaries from attosecond to zeptosecond timescales.

Popmintchev was born in Bulgaria in 1977. He participated in the International Physics Olympiads in China and Norway. He earned his undergraduate degree in Quantum Electronics and Laser Physics from Sofia University. In 2003, he moved to the United States to pursue graduate studies. He received his Ph.D. in Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2010.

Following his Ph.D., Popmintchev served as a postdoctoral fellow and later as a research professor at JILA, a joint institute between the University of Colorado Boulder and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). During this time, he worked with leading researchers such as Prof. Margaret Murnane and Prof. Henry Kapteyn on advancements in high-harmonic generation and X-ray sources. He joined the faculty at UCSD as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics and the Center for Advanced Nanoscience. He also holds an affiliation with the Technical University of Vienna (TU Wien) in Austria. Popmintchev maintains an active presence on professional networks, including LinkedIn, ResearchGate, and X.

Popmintchev's research centers on quantum X-ray science and technology, including the development of coherent X-ray sources with tunable properties for ultrafast imaging and spectroscopies of quantum materials. Key areas include:

• High-Harmonic Generation (HHG): Pioneering work on generating bright coherent ultrahigh harmonics in the keV X-ray regime using mid-infrared femtosecond lasers.
• Tabletop X-ray Lasers: Developing compact, aberration-free spectrometers and monochromators for EUV-soft X-ray applications.
• Attosecond and Zeptosecond Pulses: Advancing X-ray combs and rainbows for 5D imaging of quantum nano systems, including coherent X-rays with orbital and spin angular momentum.
• Applications: EUV lithography metrology, femtosecond dynamic imaging, and X-ray coherent diffractive imaging.

His laboratories, Popmintchev LABS, focus on X-ray combs for ultrafast imaging, quantum design of coherent X-rays, and the zeptosecond hard X-ray frontier. Popmintchev has co-authored numerous high-impact publications, including in Science, Physical Review Letters, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, with collaborations across institutions.

• Generation of bright coherent EUV and X-ray light using ultrafast UV-VIS-IR lasers
• Quantum EUV-Xray Labs at University of California San Diego
• Artistic impression of a coherent X-ray pulse spanning more than 12 octaves of frequencies - a rainbow of invisible X-ray colors

Popmintchev has received several prestigious awards for his contributions to physics:

• 2011: Finalist, Outstanding Ph.D. Thesis Research Award, American Physical Society (Division of Atomic, Molecular, Optical Physics)
• 2015: TOYP 2015 The Outstanding Young Persons of Bulgaria, Junior Chamber International Foundation
• 2016: Presidential Medal for Pioneering Contribution to Science and Technology, President of Bulgaria
• 2016: Pythagoras Award for Outstanding Young Scientist, Bulgarian Ministry of Science and Education
• 2016: SN 10 Outstanding Young Scientist Award, Science News
• 2017: European Research Council Starting Grant (ERC STG)
• 2018: Sloan Research Fellowship, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Popmintchev has co-authored over 100 publications in peer-reviewed journals, with an h-index of 31 and over 8,900 citations as of 2026. His work has appeared in journals such as Science, Nature Photonics, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Notable publications include:

• T. Popmintchev, M.-C. Chen, D. Popmintchev, P. Arpin, S. Brown, et al. "Bright coherent ultrahigh harmonics in the keV x-ray regime from mid-infrared femtosecond lasers." Science, 336(6086), 1287-1291 (2012). (Cited 2235 times)
• T. Popmintchev, M.-C. Chen, P. Arpin, M. M. Murnane, H. C. Kapteyn. "The attosecond nonlinear optics of bright coherent X-ray generation." Nature Photonics, 4, 822-832 (2010). (Cited 807 times)
• O. Kfir, P. Grychtol, E. Turgut, R. Knut, D. Zusin, D. Popmintchev, et al. "Generation of bright phase-matched circularly-polarized extreme ultraviolet high harmonics." Nature Photonics, 9, 99-105 (2015). (Cited 600 times)
• G. Andriukaitis, T. Balčiūnas, S. Ališauskas, A. Pugžlys, A. Baltuška, T. Popmintchev, et al. "90 GW peak power few-cycle mid-infrared pulses from an optical parametric amplifier." Optics Letters, 36(15), 2755-2757 (2011). (Cited 555 times)
• T. Popmintchev, M.-C. Chen, A. Bahabad, M. Gerrity, P. Sidorenko, O. Cohen, et al. "Phase matching of high harmonic generation in the soft and hard X-ray regions of the spectrum." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(26), 10516-10521 (2009). (Cited 552 times)
• M.-C. Chen, P. Arpin, T. Popmintchev, M. Gerrity, B. Zhang, M. Seaberg, et al. "Bright, Coherent, Ultrafast Soft X-Ray Harmonics Spanning the Water Window from a Tabletop Light Source." Physical Review Letters, 105(17), 173901 (2010). (Cited 467 times)
• T. Fan, P. Grychtol, R. Knut, C. Hernández-García, D. D. Hickstein, D. Zusin, et al. "Bright circularly polarized soft X-ray high harmonics for X-ray magnetic circular dichroism." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(46), 14206-14211 (2015). (Cited 347 times)
• X. Zhang, A. L. Lytle, T. Popmintchev, X. Zhou, H. C. Kapteyn, M. M. Murnane, et al. "Quasi-phase-matching and quantum-path control of high-harmonic generation using counterpropagating light." Nature Physics, 3, 270-275 (2007). (Cited 310 times)
• N. L. Wagner, A. Wüest, I. P. Christov, T. Popmintchev, X. Zhou, M. M. Murnane, et al. "Monitoring molecular dynamics using coherent electrons from high harmonic generation." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 103(36), 13279-13285 (2006). (Cited 261 times)
• D. Popmintchev, C. Hernández-García, F. Dollar, C. Mancuso, et al. "Ultraviolet surprise: Efficient soft x-ray high-harmonic generation in multiply ionized plasmas." Science, 350(6262), 1225-1231 (2015). (Cited 251 times)