Aurèle Adam develops THz near-field imaging and spectroscopy. Research: (1) apertureless scattering-type near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) at THz frequencies for nanometre spatial resolution imaging of material properties; (2) THz time-domain spectroscopy of quantum materials and condensed matter systems; (3) antenna-coupled detectors and sources for THz near-field imaging. Relevant to quantum material characterisation at the nanoscale.
Aeppli leads the Quantum Technologies Group spanning ETH Zurich, EPFL, and PSI. Research directions: (1) Quantum materials imaging — using SLS synchrotron X-rays (including SwissFEL ultrafast pulses) and neutrons at SINQ to image quantum phase transitions, skyrmions, and correlated phases; non-destructive imaging of device structures; (2) Rare-earth quantum magnets and qubits — LiHoF4 as a model quantum system; Er, Pr, and Nd spin qubits in crystals for quantum information and sensing; (3) Semiconductor quantum devices — silicon and germanium nanostructures probed by synchrotron nanoscale X-ray imaging; (4) Van der Waals materials and CDW memory devices. Strong interface with PSI large-scale facilities as unique quantum sensing tools for materials.
Bell's group uses DNA nanotechnology and advanced optical microscopy for single-molecule biosensing. Research directions: (1) DNA-based biosensing — DNA origami structures as programmable biosensing platforms; using structural switching of DNA nanodevices to sense specific biomolecules with single-molecule sensitivity; (2) Super-resolution microscopy with DNA — DNA-PAINT and FRET-based single-molecule localization for mapping molecular architectures in cells; (3) Solid-state nanopores — DNA-threaded through nanopores as a precision biosensor for protein identification and force measurement; (4) Multiplexed single-molecule detection — combining DNA-based sensors with optical readout for parallel biomolecule profiling. New group established at UCL, strong biosensing focus.
Boland's group focuses on THz spectroscopy of semiconductor nanostructures and 2D materials for quantum sensing applications. Research directions: (1) THz optical pump–THz probe spectroscopy — measuring ultrafast carrier dynamics in semiconductor nanowires, quantum wells, and 2D materials (graphene, TMDs, perovskites) after optical excitation; (2) Near-field THz nanoscopy — sub-wavelength THz imaging of carrier distributions and quantum phase domains; (3) THz-active quantum devices — studying exciton and polaron dynamics in perovskite and III-V semiconductors at THz frequencies; (4) 2D material sensors — graphene-based THz detectors and emitters. Applications in quantum-material characterization and quantum sensing.
Gambardella leads the Magnetism and Interface Physics group at ETH D-MATL. Research directions: (1) Scanning probe magnetometry — using NV-center cantilevers (collaboration with Degen) and magneto-optical Kerr microscopy to image spin textures (skyrmions, domain walls) in thin-film heterostructures with sub-100 nm resolution; (2) Spin-orbit torques — current-induced magnetization switching via interfacial spin-orbit coupling; spin Hall and Rashba effects for spintronic devices; (3) Single-atom magnetism — STM and X-ray absorption for element-specific orbital and spin moments of individual atoms on surfaces; (4) XMCD at synchrotron — quantitative element-specific magnetic spectroscopy. Quantum sensing angle: spin-orbit driven phenomena, high-resolution magnetic imaging.
Halsall is a senior PSI photonics researcher focusing on semiconductor spectroscopy and photonic quantum device characterization. Research directions: (1) Deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) — characterizing defects and impurities in semiconductor quantum device structures (Si, GaN, SiC) that are relevant to qubit coherence; (2) Photoluminescence mapping — spatial mapping of optical quality in quantum well and dot wafers for quantum sensing device development; (3) InGaN/GaN quantum wells — non-destructive optical characterization of LED and sensor structures; (4) THz and infrared spectroscopy — contactless Hall measurements and Drude response for quantum material characterization. Provides photonic metrology tools for characterizing quantum sensing device materials.
Hibberd holds an EPSRC Ernest Rutherford Fellowship at Manchester's PSI. Research directions: (1) Ultrafast THz spectroscopy of magnetic materials — probing spin dynamics, magnon modes, and phase transitions in correlated magnetic materials with sub-ps time resolution using intense THz pulses; (2) THz-driven spintronics — using THz electric and magnetic fields to switch magnetization and induce spin currents; (3) THz generation from spintronic heterostructures — using ultrafast spin-charge conversion as a broadband THz emitter for materials characterization; (4) Quantum magnonics — studying collective spin excitations (magnons) as quantum sensors of materials order parameters. Bridges ultrafast optics and quantum sensing of magnetic phases.
Micolich works on semiconductor nanowire and organic/polymer nanoelectronic devices, with two strands relevant here: the physics of low-dimensional transport and noise in nanowire transistors, and the use of those devices as transducers at the interface with biological systems, where a nanowire field-effect transistor acts as an extremely local potentiometer sensitive to charge and potential changes at the cell membrane. The group has a strong record in noise spectroscopy — using 1/f and random telegraph noise as a diagnostic rather than a nuisance. Positioned against the established body of NV-ensemble quantum sensing work — DEER, nanoscale NMR and T1 relaxometry protocols operating at pT/sqrt(Hz) field sensitivity — nanowire FET bioelectronic sensing is the principal electrical competitor to NV-based bio-magnetometry: both aim to read out cellular electrophysiology without patch-clamping, one via magnetic fields at pT/sqrt(Hz), the other via local potential. Borderline inclusion, kept because the bio-interface sensing thread is genuine.
Minor directs the National Center for Electron Microscopy at LBNL and develops in-situ TEM methods to observe how materials deform, fracture, and transform under mechanical load, temperature, and other stimuli in real time at atomic resolution.
Studies atomically thin 2D quantum materials and their sensing applications. Directions: (1) tr-ARPES and ultrafast spectroscopy of non-equilibrium electronic dynamics in TMDs and graphene heterostructures; (2) 2D material nanophotonic devices for light sensing and emission; (3) wafer-scale CVD growth of hBN, MoS2, WSe2 for integrated quantum devices; (4) scanning probe characterization of local optical and electronic properties. Key tool: time-resolved photoemission as ultrafast electronic structure sensing.