Dr. Igor Khanonkin

Vacuum-Engineered Quantum Materials & Sensing Lab
Our research explores how light and the quantum electromagnetic vacuum interact with matter at the nanoscale. We combine quantum optics, nanophotonics, low-dimensional quantum materials, and cryogenic spectroscopy to investigate and control light–matter interactions from the visible to the terahertz spectral range.
A central direction of our research is cavity quantum electrodynamics in quantum materials, including the ultrastrong-coupling regime and the possibility of engineering material properties and phases through the electromagnetic environment. We develop deeply sub-wavelength and hyperbolic cavities and integrate them with two-dimensional van der Waals materials.
We also investigate quantum emitters in atomically thin materials, with particular emphasis on defects in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), collective emission and superradiance, and nanoscale quantum sensing. Our long-term goal is to use individual quantum emitters as local probes of electromagnetic fields and quantum materials with nanometer-scale spatial resolution.
Our experiments combine cryogenic optical spectroscopy, single-photon measurements, terahertz spectroscopy, nanophotonics, electrical transport, and fabrication of van der Waals heterostructures.