Photonic Nanomaterials
Prof. Dr. Isabelle STAUDE
Prof. Isabelle Staude in the Nano Lab.
Image: Jan-Peter Kasper (University of Jena)
Prof. Isabelle Staude.
Image: Anne Günther (University of Jena)Prof. Dr. Isabelle STAUDE
Email: isabelle.staude@uni-jena.de
Phone: + 49 3641 9 47330
Illustration of world map with logos
Image: Meta-ActiveProf. Staude holds the Chair of Experimental Physics / Nano- and Quantum Systems at Friedrich Schiller University Jena and leads the Photonic Nanomaterials group at the Institute of Solid State Physics. She has been Dean of the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy since 2026.
After establishing a junior research group on functional photonic nanostructures in Jena in 2015, she became Junior Professor for Functional Photonic Materials in 2017, Professor for Photonic Nanomaterials in 2020, and was appointed to her current chair in 2022. Her research focuses on functional nanophotonic systems, dielectric metasurfaces, nanoantennas, hybrid quantum systems and active light–matter interaction at the nanoscale. She is spokesperson of the International Research Training Group IRTG 2675 “META-ACTIVE”, a joint doctoral training and research programme with the Australian National University in Canberra that develops active metasurfaces capable of generating, detecting and dynamically controlling light.
Research Areas
The research of Prof. Staude focuses on the control of light with functional photonic nanostructures and hybrid nanoscale systems. Research topics include:
- Dielectric metasurfaces and metamaterials
- High-index dielectric nanoantennas
- Active and reconfigurable nanophotonics
- Hybrid systems with two-dimensional materials
- Quantum emitters and hybrid quantum systems
- Nonlinear nanophotonics
- Nanoplasmonics
- Subwavelength optics
- Nanofabrication and optical characterization
Teaching Fields
Prof. Staude teaches in the fields of:
- Experimental solid-state physics
- Nanophotonics
- Nano- and quantum systems
- Metamaterials and metasurfaces
- Optical properties of nanostructures
Research Methods
The group combines nanofabrication with advanced optical characterization of photonic nanostructures. Core methods include:
- Electron-beam lithography and nanofabrication
- Dielectric and plasmonic nanostructure fabrication
- Linear and nonlinear optical spectroscopy
- Fourier-space and momentum-resolved microscopy
- Polarization-resolved optical measurements
- Near- and far-field characterization
- Integration of two-dimensional materials with metasurfaces
- Optical characterization of quantum emitters and hybrid systems
Illustration of the electromagnetic mode dynamics in an excited optical metasurface.
Graphic: Published by the Staude research group.Recent Research Results
Current research focuses strongly on active, nonlinear and hybrid metasurfaces that go beyond static wavefront control. Recent work demonstrated resonant metasurfaces integrated with atomically thin semiconductors, where the optical response can be actively tuned through the excitonic properties of two-dimensional materials [1]. Related work has shown how hybrid metasurface concepts can create intrinsically chiral exciton-polariton states and strongly modify emission properties at the nanoscale [2].
A second major direction is active and nonlinear control of light. In 2026, all-optical reconfiguration of nonlinear emission from resonant metasurfaces was demonstrated, enabling optical control of the nonlinear response without electronic modulation [3]. The group also develops metasurface lasers with tailored spectral and angular emission, including multimode lasing across a broad visible wavelength range [4,5].
Further work addresses nanoscale control of quantum emission and valley-dependent light–matter interaction, as well as quantum emitters in two-dimensional materials and dielectric nanoantenna systems [6,7].
[1] Ustinov et al., Light Sci. Appl. 15 (2026).
[2] Wurdack et al., Nat. Commun. 17 (2026).
[3] Yang et al., Sci. Adv. 12 (2026).
[4] Bashiri et al., Nano Lett. 26 (2026).
[5] Tanaka et al., Sci. Adv. (2026).
[6] Bucher et al., ACS Nano 20 (2026).
[7] Staude et al., Adv. Sci. (2026).