© Iris Niehues
© Iris Niehues

 

 

Welcome
to the

Quantum
Nanophotonics Group

Jun.-Prof. Dr. Iris Niehues

iris.niehues@uni-muenster.de

Interested in joining our group?
Please contact me to discuss possible topics for Bachelor or Master theses.

Impressions from the lab
© Iris Niehues

Investigating optical properties on the nanoscale

Our group focuses on the fundamental optical properties on the nanoscale of 2D materials and single-photon emitters to develop novel functionalities for quantum technology applications. We use near-field techniques to achive an optical resolution beyond the diffraction limit together with conventional techniques.

The group is funded by the NRW Rückkehrprogramm Quantentechnologie.

Visit from Marita Wagner

© Marita Wagner

We're excited to have Marita Wagner joining our group as a guest researcher! Marita is a PhD candidate in nanogune and biomagune from San Sebastián, Spain. I had the pleasure of knowing Marita during my own postdoctoral work at nanogune, and am excited for her visit. She's here for two weeks to explore our labs and  join in on scientific discussions. We're looking forward to a great visit!

Exciting talk for the Kids University

© Iris Niehues
© Iris Niehues

The lecture entitled „2D Wonderland - Light and Quantum“ explained the properties of quantum particles. We described them as tiny superheroes and superheroines with very special superpowers. For example, the photon superheroine is incredibly fast and can transmit messages. We exfoliated graphene, explored the photo effect, and made a pickle glow.

Thanks to the Kinder-Uni Münster and the Westfälische Nachrichten for organizing these wonderful events.

Many thanks to my nephews Lukas and Finn for great assistance. Also  the help of Niko, André, and Daniel is highly appreciated.

SPP 2244 summer school in Berlin

© Maximilian Scharpey

Max and Iris had a great time at the SPP2244 Summer School on "Polaritons and spectroscopic methods" in Berlin. Excellent organization by Patryk and Florian.
We heard insightful talks, visited nice labs at FU Berlin, had great discussions, and of course good food and drinks!

New publication on interlayer excitons in the near field

© ACS Publishing | CC-BY 4.0

Nice collaboration with Oisín Garrity and Patryk Kusch from FU Berlin. In the paper we perform scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy of interplayer excitons in TMDC heteroscrutures. The method allows spatial resolution below the diffraction limit of weak excitonic resonances.
We contributed to the theoretical modelling.

4th Münster Symposium on Intelligent Matter

© Dennis Mors

On this years MüSIM25 we had several interesting interdisciplinary talks and posters. Dennis took the opportunity to talk to other PhD candidates in the CRC1459.

Interview in the kids magazine "Frag Sophie!"

© Frag Sophie | Uni Münster

Iris was recently interviewed by Frag Sophie!, the popular science magazine for curious kids. In the recently published issue on Quantum Physics (Quantum 100), Sophie herself visited me in my lab to ask all sorts of clever questions!
During their conversation, Iris explained how we use an optical near-field microscope to explore the quantum world. Sophie was especially curious about how this technique helps us study color centers – tiny defects in crystals that can emit single photons and play a key role in future quantum technologies. It was a great opportunity to show how hands-on experiments like record players help us understand the invisible, and to share our enthusiasm for quantum research.
Thanks again to Sophie and the team for the nice visit!

Visit to Politechnika Wrocławska

© Iris Niehues
© Iris Niehues

Many thanks to Joanna Jadczak for the invitation to give a seminar talk at Wrocław University of Science and Technology.

It is always nice to come back, have great discussions, enjoy the city, have excellent food, and search for dwarfs! We also finally managed to see the Iris flowers in the botanical garden.

Citizen Science talk
© Uni MS - Julian Meyer

Citizen Science award ceremony

Iris was invited to give a keynote lecture at the Citizen Science award ceremony of the University Foundation Münster. She spoke about „Quantum materials conquer the world - when materials achieve great things on the smallest scales“.
The winning Citizen Science projects dealt with „Homes|Heimat: Postkolonialismus, Narrative, Fotografie“ and „Erzählen Deine Gene Dir Deine Geschichte?! DNA-Tests als Waren und populäres Vergnügen“. Very exciting and relevant topics for our society!

Finished Bachelor Project

Annika has very successfully finished her Bachelor thesis!
We wish her a great Erasmus stay in Leiden.

2 New group members

We are growing further. Johannes is starting his PhD and Simone her Bachelor project.
We wish you lots of fun!

Aussois Workshop
© Emeline Nysten

French-German-Korean Workshop on Nanophotonics

Iris is currently at the French-German-Korean Workshop on Nanophotonics at the CNRS Centre Paul Langevin in Aussois, France. Many Thanks to Jacek Kasprzak for the great organization.

New group member

We welcome Niklas as a Bachelor student in our group. We wish you a great experience in the lab.

Iris_OPON2025
© Iris Niehues

OPON 2025

Sharing the results of our latest publication on hBN color centers at the OPON 2025 workshop in Münster for the first time.
We heard great talks and had interesing discussions throughout the whole workshop. All in all again a wonderful event!

Near field hBN color center
© Iris Niehues | Nanophotonics

New publication in Nanophotonics

Our new paper has been published in Nanophotonics:
https://doi.org/10.1515/nanoph-2024-0554

The great collaboration with neaspec made it possible to optimize the s-SNOM setup to image single color centers in hBN. Many thanks also to my old group at nanoGUNE and the team of  Andrzej Wysmołek and Johannes Binder from Warsaw University!

New group member

We welcome Max as the first PhD student in our group.

We wish you a great start!

Logo Uni
© Iris Niehues | Uni Münster

Our contribution to the advent calendar of the University. The picture demonstrates the improved spatial resolution in optical images below the Abbe limit when using a near-field microscope.
Many thanks to Nicolai Bathen (AG Wurstbauer) and Matthias Volz (AG Krenner) for producing the sample.

Inaugural Lecture
© Iris Niehues

We had a great time at the Inaugural Lecture shared with Anika Schlenhoff and Hubert Krenner.

We are very happy that many people from the whole department joyned our talks and the following reception.

Q.Uni camp 2024
© Iris Niehues

Lots of fun exfoliating graphene with our future scientists at the Kids University Münster Q.UNI camp.

Building neascope May 2024
© Iris Niehues

Almost operational!

This week Korbinian Kaltenecker from attocube set up my new neascope. Excited for the first test measurements and final installments in the coming weeks.

Setup in boxes
© Iris Niehues

The Setup has arrived!

The Neascope has arrived! Can't wait for the unboxing and buildup of the setup in May.

We are hiring!

Interested in joining our group as a PhD student?
We also have topics for Bachelor and Master students.
Please contact Iris Niehues to discuss possible topics.
iris.niehues@uni-muenster.de

We are now part of the CRC1459 Intelligent Matter!

Iris Niehues succesfully defended her Start-Up project proposal during the CRC1459 all members retreat. The grant supports innovative projects to catalyse their integration into the CRC1459.
More details can be found here.

BaMa Tag

We took part in the BaMa–Tag!
Interested to join our group as a Bachelor or Master student?
Please contact Iris Niehues to discuss posible topics.
iris.niehues@uni-muenster.de

Wir waren beim BaMa-Tag dabei!
Interesse an einer Bachelor oder Masterarbeit?
Konatktiere uns ueber Iris Niehues um moegliche Projekte zu besprechen
iris.niehues@uni-muenster.de