The research program of the QO group has three leading themes: Optical Physics, Quantum Optics, and Photon-Matter Interactions. We work mostly at the boundaries between these themes with entanglement as a bridging and binding agent.

Research groups in the Quantum Matter & Optics programme investigate electronic properties of matter and light-matter interactions with emphasis on quantum information.

The quantum nature of matter and light has grown into a broad and fruitful research field for theorists and experimentalists alike. It combines foundational research with toward applications, the most well known of which is the quantum computer.

The quantum nature of matter and light has grown into a broad and fruitful research field for theorists and experimentalists alike. It combines foundational research with toward applications, the most well known of which is the quantum computer.

Advancing the understanding of the interaction of light and matter on the single-quantum level is important for near-future quantum technologies but also to answer fundamental questions.

Optical cavities are useful tools to enhance the interaction between light and matter, which is important to make good quantum emitters. However, it turns out that the cavities themselves (without any quantum emitters) are already interesting objects to study.

Promotor: Prof.dr. M.A.G.J. Orrit

Research in the van Exter lab focuses on quantum aspects of light and light-matter interaction. One of our long-term goals is to develop a reliable quantum memory, based on a single emitter in an open micro cavity.

The master’s specialisation Research in Physics, Quantum Matter and Optics at Leiden University offers a thorough experience on the front line of physics research with a practical training of communicative and computer skills. The programme focuses on Condensed Matter problems, such as Molecular Electronics,…

The Clinical Epidemiology department at the LUMC has set up a series of lectures for asylum seekers. The series has become a huge success.

Promotor: Prof.dr. D. Bouwmeester, Co-promotor: M.P. van Exter

A single self-assembled semiconductor quantum dot in a high-finesse optical microcavity - the subject of this thesis - is an interesting quantum-mechanical system for future quantum applications. For instance, this system allows trapping of an extra electron and thus can serve as a spin quantum memory,…

Pushing the boundaries of quantum theories – that’s exactly what the physicists at Leiden University excel at. Researchers in Leiden are launching eight new quantum research projects as part of the Quantum Limits consortium.

The worldwide race to the quantum computer is in full swing. This computer can take on computing tasks that we can only dream of today, such as finding proteins that can be used as medicines in seconds flat. Leiden physicists have discovered how the Majorana particle can be used as a building block…

Quantum computers deserve their own quantum internet. This is a network that dispatches information not in the form of bits - ones and zeros - but rather as qubits, just like in the quantum computer itself. In the view of Dirk Bouwmeester, a professor in Leiden’s Quantum Matter & Optics research group,…

Since the early 1990s, one can isolate the optical signal of a single molecule and single-molecule spectroscopy has quickly grown into an important research field.

We study the dynamics of individual emitters in micro cavities.

This thesis covers several aspects of quantum algorithms for near-term quantum computers and its applications to quantum chemistry and material science.

Top scientists of three Dutch universities are working on software and systems for quantum computers. Researchers of the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS) and the Leiden Institute of Physics (LION) are developing new algorithms to make those super computers work. The coming years,…

Single-molecule spectroscopy has become a powerful method for using organic fluorescent molecules in numerous applications.

Quantum annealing belongs to a family of quantum optimization algorithms designed to solve combinatorial optimization problems using programmable quantum hardware. In this thesis, various methods are developed and tested to understand how to formulate combinatorial optimization problems for quantum…

Promotor: Prof.dr. D. Bouwmeester, Co-Promotor: M.J.A. de Dood

Promotor: Ronald Cramer, Co-promotor: Serge Fehr

This thesis is a collection of theoretical works aiming at adjusting quantum algorithms to the hardware of quantum computers.

This thesis probes under what conditions quantum computing presents an advantage over classical computing.

Promotor: C. W. J. Beenakker, Co-promotor: J. K. Asboth

Leiden physicists have created a light source that emits individual particles in an identical state through optical fibers. Using this setup, their measurements can last longer and are more efficient, meaning they can perform more in-depth research on bizarre quantum effects, such as interference and…

Promotor: R. Gill, Co-promotor: P. Massart

Quantum computing is an emerging technology, which holds the potential to simulate complex quantum systems beyond the reach of classical numerical methods.Despite recent formidable advancements in quantum hardware, constructing a quantum computer capable of performing useful calculations remains challenging.In…

This thesis examines silicon pore optics (SPO), a technology that exploits silicon wafers from the semiconductor industry to create extremely high quality X-ray optics, by studying its manufacturing process, applications, and prospects.

Born in Europe roughly 100 years ago, quantum physics brought forth a veritable technological revolution through semiconductors, lasers, fibre optics, and many other technologies that are today ubiquitous in our lives. Now, during the second quantum revolution, Europe can take the lead once more in…

Kiem project: How can metaphors be used to enhance societal engagement with quantum science and technology, and what factors influence their acceptance or resistance among experts and laypeople?

Promotor: Prof.dr. E. R. Eliel, Co-Promotor: M.J.A. de Dood

The field of exoplanet research is rapidly advancing through the development of new technology, observing techniques, and post-processing methods.

Scattering of light in the presence of nano-structured materials, i.e. with features in the order of the wavelength of the light or smaller, reveals details of how light interacts with matter at the nanoscale.

This thesis addresses questions on effectively using variational quantum circuits for machine learning tasks.

Scientists need individual photons for quantum cryptography and quantum computers. Leiden physicists have now experimentally demonstrated a new production method. Publication in Physical Review Letters on July 23rd.

Spectroscopic studies on fluorescent single molecules in organic condensed matter does not only provide information about the molecule itself, but also its near environment. By suppression of phonon-induced broadening of spectral lines through cooling to low temperatures, small changes in the spectral…

The aim of this thesis is to present novel techniques for proving cryptographic schemes secure against quantum adversaries. Most results are within the context of an idealized model called the ‘quantum random-oracle model’.

Why do black holes emit thermal radiation? And how does a closed quantum system thermalize?

The research in my group addresses a range of topics related to quantum many-body physics.

This thesis covers various applications of topology in condensed matter physics and quantum information.

Our group explores the larger domain of quantum measurement. In particular we investigate two themes that are closely connected: The detection of specially prepared quantum states of light and understanding and characterizing quantum photon detectors.

This master’s programme combines Physics with Data Science. You will learn how physics has its own tricks to deal with big data and how techniques from machine learning and deep learning can be applied to classical and quantum data. The first focus of attention is on classical data, including data mining,…

We explore the possibilities to combine magnetic resonance techniques with atomic force microscopy together in a single microscope: the MRI-AFM, also called Magnetic Resonance Force Microscopy (MRFM).

Quantum computing is a novel paradigm for computation, which is nearing real-world impact with the coming generation of limited, but nonetheless powerful quantum devices.

The Divide & Quantum (D&Q) project offers various solutions to harness the power of quantum computers in the near term, proposing entire pipelines, from theoretical research, via implementation to real-world case studies in a number of disciplines, to science communication with the broader society.…

Welcome to the Hensen Lab! We are a young dynamic experimental research group starting at the Leiden Institute of Physics. Our lab addresses one of the key challenges of modern physics: understanding the interface between quantum mechanics and general relativity.

During my PhD research, I studied the photon statistics of light emitted by a microcavity that contains a single quantum dot (QD) on resonance.