News
12/2025: Very first preprint out - we discovered Wigner crystal polarons!
Earlier this year we started the very first lab of our group. Now the very first preprint based entirely on the experiments carried out in this newly-established lab is out arXiv:2512.16552 (2025)! In this work we discover Wigner crystal polarons – novel optically-active quasiparticles consisting of excitons dressed by collective excitations of an electronic Wigner crystal in a monolayer semiconductor. In addition, we demonstrate all-optical control over the Wigner crystal spin state.
Many thanks for great theory support from Fabian Pichler and Michael Knap from Technical University of Munich, as well as to the team of experimentalists, including Lujun Wang and Ferdinand Menzel from our group.
10/2025: The group is growing: welcome to MSc students!
Today Adilia Iafarova and Ivan Krastilevskiy are joing our group to carry out their Master Thesis projects.
09/2025: ERC Starting Grant OptoQuantTOP!
We have just been awarded with an ERC Starting Grant from the European Research Council. Within the frame of this prestigious OptoQuantTOP project, we will use light to sense and control strongly correlated topological phases of matter in artificially-designed quantum materials based on van der Waals heterostructures. We aim to create optical interfaces, enabling creation of new types optically-controllable topological circuits, or accessing exotic topological excitations, with applications in novel quantum technologies and quantum computing.
09/2025: QOEG joins Swiss Nanoscience Institute (SNI)
Our group has just became a member of the Swiss Nanoscience Insitute (SNI)! Feel free to watch a youtube video about our research!
08/2025: First group outing!
The very first outing of our newly-established Quantum Opto-Electronics Group at the University of Basel! Plenty of scientific discussions with between our group members and the group of Ajit Srivastava from the University of Geneva in magnificent location near Morteratsch glacier in the middle of Swiss Alps.
08/2025: Welcome Jinu!
Today Jinu James is joining our group to start his PhD project
He completed his master’s at IIT Kharagpur and conducted his thesis work in Prof Christoph Stampfer's group at RWTH Aachen under the DAAD KOSPIE fellowship, where he investigated valley-polarised photocurrent in 2D TMD lateral heterostructures. His research background includes sample fabrication and low-temperature polarisation-dependent/optoelectronic measurements aimed at understanding quantum phenomena in 2D materials.
05/2025: First twisted bilayer device cold!
Today we measured the very first optical response of twisted gate-controlled moire bilayer device at 1.6K in our brand new lab! It is hard to believe that 4 months ago the lab was still completely empty! Thanks to the great team of researchers who contributed to this amazing ultra-fast progress - from the left: Lujun Wang, Ferdinand Menzel, Patrick Knüppel, and Tomasz Smoleński.
05/2025: Welcome Lujun!
Today Lujun Wang is joining our group as a post-doctoral researcher!
He completed his PhD in the Quantum- and Nanoelectronics Group of Prof. Christian Schönenberger at the University of Basel, where he worked on in situ strain engineering of graphene and low-temperature quantum transport experiments. He then joined the Photonics Laboratory of Prof. Lukas Novotny at ETH Zürich as a postdoctoral researcher, expanding his expertise to optical spectroscopy and optoelectronics in 2D van der Waals heterostructures. Afterwards, he went on an excursion into industry, exploring the commercialization of quantum sensing with diamond NV centers and thermal scanning probe nanolithography. Now, with renewed enthusiasm and a broad research background, he is returning to academia—especially to Basel, which truly feels like going back home!
04/2025: Welcome Ferdinand!
Today Ferdinand Menzel is joining our group as the first PhD student!
He completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s in the group of Prof. Jonathan Finley at TU Munich working on low-temperature spectroscopy of 2D magnetic semiconductors. His research background is in the fabrication and characterization of custom van der Waals heterostructures of 2D materials, with which he studies tunable properties of 2D semiconductors to establish new material platforms for exploring quantum phenomena.
02/2025: The journey of QOEG starts!
Every journey always starts with a very first step! Today our new group at the University of Basel has officially began its operation. We will use ultra-low temperature optical spectroscopy of custom-made charge-tunable quantum materials to investigate and control novel strongly correlated phases of matter. To this end, we will use cutting-edge research equipement, including dilution refrigerator units, fast laser systems, and various clean-room equipment. This will be placed in state-of-the-art laboratories that will soon be renovated to fit our needs. One of them is already almost ready to set up our experiments!
