Kiri van Koughnet

Kiri's PhD research focuses on magnetic and electronic properties of neodymium nitride and its solid solutions with dysprosium nitride.

profile-picture photograph

Physics PhD student
School of Chemical and Physical Sciences

Profile

During her undergraduate degree in mathematics and physics, Kiri completed two summer research scholarships with the VUW rare-earth nitride spintronics group based at both VUW and Robinson Research Institute, which led to two Honours projects and set her up for starting her PhD with the group in 2023. Through her studies, she has developed an interest in synchrotron-based techniques and attended a 5-week school in France, where she learned about these techniques. She has since completed her own experiment at the SPring-8 Radiation Facility in Japan as part of her thesis work. Outside of uni work Kiri enjoys going out for coffee and spending time with her dog, Koko.

Qualifications

Bachelor of Science  in Mathematics and Physics (First Class Honours)

Research interests

Rare-earth nitrides, spintronics, optical spectroscopy, and synchrotron-based experiments

PhD topic

Magnetic and electronic properties of neodymium nitride and its solid solutions with dysprosium nitride

Supervisors

Professor Ben Ruck, School of Chemical and Physical Sciences

William Holmes-Hewett, School of Chemical and Physical Sciences

Professor Joe Trodahl, School of Chemical and Physical Sciences

Publications

  1. Van Koughnet, K., Holmes-Hewett, W. F., & Ruck, B. J. (2025). Enhanced magnetic remanence and electron mobility in (100)-epitaxial NdN thin films. Journal of Applied Physics, 138(6), 065102.
  2. Markwitz, M., Van Koughnet, K., Kneisel, K., Holmes-Hewett, W. F., Natali, F., Trewick, E. X. M., ... & Trodahl, H. J. (2025). Raman signatures of cation vacancies in rare earth nitrides. Physical Review B, 112(6), 064101.
  3. Kneisel, K., Maddah, M., Chan, J., Xu, Y., Casey-Stevens, C., Van Koughnet, K., ... & Natali, F. (2024). Synthesis, Structural, and Raman Investigation of Lanthanide Nitride Powders (Ln= La, Ce, Nd, Sm, Gd, Tb, Dy, Er, Lu). ACS omega, 9(48), 47842-47847.
  4. Van Koughnet, K., Mallett, B., Chong, S., Conner, B. S., McGuire, M. A., Susner, M. A., & Buckley, R. G. (2024). Spin-lattice and spin-electronic interactions in the van der Waals semiconductor C o 2 P 2 S 6. Physical Review B, 109(16), 165142.
  5. Holmes-Hewett, W. F., Van Koughnet, K., Miller, J. D., Trewick, E. X. M., Ruck, B. J., Trodahl, H. J., & Buckley, R. G. (2023). Indications of a ferromagnetic quantum critical point in SmN 1-δ. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 19775.
  6. Mallett, B., Zhang, Y., Pot, C., Van Koughnet, K., Stanley, B., Buckley, R. G., ... & Granville, S. (2023). Using optical spectroscopy to probe the impact of atomic disorder on the Heusler alloy C o 2 MnGa. Physical Review Materials, 7(9), 094203.
  7. Van Koughnet, K., Trodahl, H. J., Holmes-Hewett, W. F., & Ruck, B. J. (2023). Defect-activated versus intrinsic Raman spectra of GdN and LuN. Physical Review B, 108(6), 064306.
  8. Holmes-Hewett, W. F., Buckley, R. G., Butler, T. J., Pot, C., Van Koughnet, K., Ruck, B. J., & Trodahl, H. J. (2022). TO (Γ) mode resonances in the rare-earth nitrides. AIP Advances, 12(7).
  9. Devese, S., Van Koughnet, K., Buckley, R. G., Natali, F., Murmu, P. P., Anton, E. M., ... & Holmes-Hewett, W. F. (2022). Probing the defect states of LuN1− δ: An experimental and computational study. AIP Advances, 12(3).