Principal Investigator Jian Cui
The nanoPROBE lab
The most compelling characteristic of nanoscale materials is the emergence of different physical phenomena upon the shrinking of dimensions. We are interested in exploiting these unique properties of the nanoscopic world to develop a new toolkit that will help us understand, and perhaps ultimately control, biological systems.
We are a diverse team of researchers asking interdisciplinary questions, and engaging in multidisciplinary approaches, in the hopes of achieving transdisciplinary outcomes (transcending disciplines).(1)
(1) Choi et al. Multidisciplinarity, interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity in health research, services, education and policy: 1. Definitions, objectives, and evidence of effectiveness. Clin. Invest. Med. 2006
Dr. Jian Cui
Principal Investigator, Nanomaterials and Nanophotonics
Jian Cui was born in China and moved to the United States at the age of 5. He received his B.S. in Chemistry from Stanford University, while performing undergraduate research in single-molecule biophysical chemistry with Professor W. E. Moerner (Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 2014). He then obtained his PhD in Physical Chemistry from MIT under Professor Moungi Bawendi, where he worked on a new optical method that combines interferometry and single-photon counting, to study the photoluminescence spectra of semiconductor nanoparticles. Subsequently, he pursued postdoctoral research in the Optical Materials Engineering Laboratory of Professor David Norris at ETH Zürich, working on the fabrication and characterization of miniaturized optical devices in the field of plasmonics and nanophotonics.
Factsheet
Dr. Jian Cui
Positions and Career
2018 - present
Principal Investigator Helmholtz Pioneer Campus, Helmholtz Zentrum München
2017 - 2018
Junior Group Leader - ETH Zürich
2014 - 2016
Postdoctoral Fellow – ETH Zurich
Education
2014
PhD in Physical Chemistry – Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
2008
BS in Chemistry – Stanford University, USA
Honors and Awards
2014
ETH Zurich and Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship
2013
Member of USA Delegation to the 63rd Lindau Meeting of Nobel Laureates and Students
2012
Materials Research Society Graduate Student Award (Silver)
2009
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship
Professional Memberships
American Chemical Society
Materials Research Society
PostDocs
Dr. Nicolai Hoinka
Dr.rer.nat. in Physical Chemistry, University of Kassel, Germany
Focus: Applied Material Science
Doctoral Thesis: “Optical Amplification in Disordered Waveguiding Systems“
Dr. Jieying Zhou
Dr.rer.nat. in Chemistry, Leipzig University, Germany
Focus: Materials Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry
Doctoral Thesis: "Improved Sorptive Removal of Polar Organic Micropollutants from Water Using Surface Modified and Polarized Activated Carbons"
PhD Students
Ruyu Ma
MSc in Precision Instrument, Tsinghua University, China
Focus: Application of optical frequency combs
Master's thesis: "Angular velocity measurement with wide range based on dual-comb Sagnac interferometer"
Sapthagiri Sukumaran
MTech in Molecular Medicine, Amrita Center for Nanosciences and Molecular Medicine, India
Focus: Stem cells in regenerative medicine
Master's Thesis: "Characterization and investigation of Extracellular vesicles from chondrogenically-primed MSCs - an investigation on the effect of Oxygen tensions"
Lab Manager
Dr. Zhizi Jing
PhD Degree: PhD in Neurosciences, University of Goettingen, Germany
Research area of PhD: Auditory Neurophysiology
Doctoral thesis: “Sound Encoding in the Mouse Cochlea: Molecular Physiology and Optogenetic Stimulation“
Alumni
Serkan Aslan
Lara Jakob
Diplom student in Nanotechnology, TU Bergakademie Freiberg
Focus: Biosensing and Biomaterials
Korneel Ridderbeek
MSc in Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands
Focus: Bio/Nanoscience and Technology
Master's Thesis: "Hyperelastic Collapse Mechanism in an Easy-to-follow Framework for Soft Lithography Engineers"
Marius Maibach
Dr. Luciano Santino
PhD in Chemistry, Washington University in St. Louis, USA
Focus: Materials Chemistry
Doctoral Thesis: "Self-assembly of conducting polymer nano- and microstructures for energy storage"
Dr. Fangyuan Song
PhD in Chemistry, University of Zurich, Switzerland
Focus: Inorganic Chemistry
Doctoral Thesis: "Synthetic and Catalytic Investigations of Homo- and Heterometallic Cobalt Cubanes as Water Oxidation Catalysts"
Christine Tiringer
MSc in Biology, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany
Focus: Neuroscience and Cell Biology
Master's Thesis: "iPSC-derived Human Astrocytes: Reprogramming into Neurons & Proteomic Analysis of LPS mediated Inflammation"
We build optical setups and synthesize nanomaterials, which can be combined to create new tools for bio-sensing and bio-imaging.
Our samples, whether they are nanoparticles or cells, are handled in controlled environments taking into account atmosphere, light exposure, and temperature.
We carefully characterize our systems both experimentally and theoretically.
Our tools can also be combined with other methods, providing a unique look into biological systems. This knowledge can be used to improve or develop more tools!
Selected Publications
Direct probe of spectral inhomogeneity reveals synthetic tunability of single-nanocrystal spectral linewidths
Jian Cui, Andrew P Beyler, Lisa F Marshall, Ou Chen, Daniel K Harris, Darcy D Wanger, Xavier Brokmann, Moungi G Bawendi
Nature chemistry 5 (7), 602-606
Evolution of the Single-Nanocrystal Photoluminescence Linewidth with Size and Shell: Implications for Exciton–Phonon Coupling and the Optimization of Spectral Linewidths
Jian Cui, Andrew P Beyler, Igor Coropceanu, Liam Cleary, Thomas R Avila, Yue Chen, José M Cordero, S Leigh Heathcote, Daniel K Harris, Ou Chen, Jianshu Cao, Moungi G Bawendi
Nano letters 16 (1), 289-296
Deconstructing the photon stream from single nanocrystals: from binning to correlation
Jian Cui, Andrew P Beyler, Thomas S Bischof, Mark WB Wilson, Moungi G Bawendi
Chemical Society Reviews 43 (4), 1287-1310
Compact high-quality CdSe–CdS core–shell nanocrystals with narrow emission linewidths and suppressed blinking
Ou Chen, Jing Zhao, Vikash P Chauhan, Jian Cui, Cliff Wong, Daniel K Harris, He Wei, Hee-Sun Han, Dai Fukumura, Rakesh K Jain, Moungi G Bawendi
Nature materials 12 (5), 445-451
Observation of Electron Shake-Up in CdSe/CdS Core/Shell Nanoplatelets
Felipe Vicente Antolinez, Freddy T Rabouw, Aurelio A Rossinelli, Jian Cui, David J Norris
Nano Lett. 2019 19, 12, 8495–8502
Reconsidering the design of planar plasmonic lasers: gain, gap layers, and mode competition
Marianne Aellen, Aurelio A Rossinelli, Robert C Keitel, Raphael Brechbühler, Felipe V Antolinez, Jian Cui, David J Norris
arXiv preprint arXiv:2101.05881
Defect-Tolerant Plasmonic Elliptical Resonators for Long-Range Energy Transfer
Felipe Vicente Antolinez, Jan M Winkler, Patrik Rohner, Stephan JP Kress, Robert Christian Keitel, David K Kim, Patricia Marqués-Gallego, Jian Cui, Freddy T Rabouw, Dimos Poulikakos, David J Norris
ACS Nano 2019, 13, 8, 9048–9056
Contact us
Helmholtz Pioneer Campus
Helmholtz Zentrum München
Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Gesundheit und Umwelt (GmbH)
Ingolstädter Landstr. 1
85764 Neuherberg
Germany