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 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,…

Science, Leiden Institute of Physics (LION)

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 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.

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

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.

We are a dynamic research group at the Leiden Institute of Physics. Our aim is to explore and understand quantum materials, including strange metals, high-temperature superconductors, and quantum critical electron matter.

We study the dynamics of individual emitters in micro cavities.

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

The focus of our theoretical physics research is the nature of macroscopic matter that is in one or the other way still in the grip of quantum physics.

Astronomer Koen Kuijken and physicist Tjerk Oosterkamp have each been awarded a major subsidy by NWO. The funding will allow them to construct new research facilities.

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,…

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,…

Schalm

Promotor: Ronald Cramer, Co-promotor: Serge Fehr

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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).

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

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

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,…

In my research, we developed a method to distinguish knots. A knot is a mathematical depiction of the everyday knot that occurs in ropes and cords.

In Quantum mechanics, particles can be in multiple positions simultaneously. Yet, when a measurement is made, the particle is found only in one place. Technology has come to a point where we may design experiments that will tell us how.

What are the mysteries behind soft condensed matter?

Promotor: C.W.J. Beenakker, Co-Promotor: A.R. Akhmerov

Find out how to apply for Research in Physics, Quantum Matter and Optics at Leiden University by following our step-by-step guide.

Do you have any questions about the master’s specialisation programme Research in Physics, Quantum Matter and Optics? Please contact us.

The Research in Physics, Quantum Matter and Optics specialisation is an excellent stepping stone for pursuing a PhD degree.

Promotor: Prof.dr.ir. J.W.M. Hilgenkamp, Prof.dr. J. van den Brink

Promotor: C.W.J. Beenakker, Co-promotor: M.T. Wimmer

The research group ‘Quantum and Society’ explores the boundary between quantum technology and science communication.

Bouwmeester

Optical projection tomography (OPT) is a tomographic 3D imaging technique used for specimens in the millimetre scale.