Institutions

Pfaffenwaldring 57
Stuttgart, Baden-Wurttemberg 70569
Germany

Summary: Major German research university and a leading European hub for quantum sensing and quantum technology. Its Faculty of Mathematics and Physics hosts the 3rd Physics Institute (Wrachtrup, a founder of NV-centre magnetometry and single-spin sensing), the 5th Institute (Pfau, dipolar quantum gases and Rydberg/thermal-vapour electrometry), the 4th Institute (Giessen, nano-optics/plasmonics/3D-printed microoptics), and the IHFG (Michler, semiconductor single-photon sources). It anchors the Center for Applied Quantum Technology (ZAQuant), the Center for Integrated Quantum Science and Technology (IQST, joint with Ulm and the MPI for Solid State Research), and SimTech. Electrical engineering (Institute of Smart Sensors, Anders) and chemistry (Krueger, diamond/nanodiamond surface chemistry) contribute chip-scale and materials expertise. Strong cleanroom/epitaxy and quantum-device fabrication infrastructure.

Notes:

Department(s)/lab(s): Electrical Engineering | Institute of Smart Sensors (Anders Group) @ Stuttgart
Summary:

Anders designs integrated-circuit quantum and magnetic-resonance sensors: EPR-on-a-chip (single-chip ESR spectrometers reaching ~1e9 spins/sqrt(Hz)), chip-scale NMR relaxometry for point-of-care, and CMOS/SiGe-integrated diamond NV magnetometers - miniaturizing spin sensing onto silicon. In the broader landscape of NV-centre ensemble quantum sensing (DEER, nano-NMR, T1 relaxometry) operating near pT/sqrt(Hz) sensitivity, this work is the integrated-circuit route to deployable NV/EPR ensemble sensing.

Department(s)/lab(s): Physics | Institute for Functional Matter and Quantum Technologies (Barz Group) @ Stuttgart
Summary:

Barz builds integrated photonic quantum information processors - multi-photon entanglement, verified/blind quantum computing, and photonic networks - with direct relevance to photonic quantum metrology and distributed quantum sensing. In the broader landscape of NV-centre ensemble quantum sensing (DEER, nano-NMR, T1 relaxometry) operating near pT/sqrt(Hz) sensitivity, this work contributes photonic-network and multiphoton-metrology tools.

Department(s)/lab(s): Department of Physics, Institute of Theoretical Physics III | Buechler Group - Institute for Theoretical Physics III @ Stuttgart
Summary:

Buechler leads quantum many-body theory at ITP III: strongly interacting quantum systems, quantum optics, and the theory of cold atomic and molecular gases -- in particular Rydberg systems, where he has been a central theorist for interaction-engineered tweezer arrays, dressed interactions and photon-photon interactions in Rydberg media. He is the theory counterpart to Pfau's and Wrachtrup's experiments in the same department. Relative to the established NV-ensemble quantum-sensing playbook (DEER, nanoscale NMR, T1 relaxometry at pT/sqrt(Hz) ensemble sensitivity), a theory-first inclusion: the relevant output is the protocol layer -- how to engineer Hamiltonians in interacting spin/Rydberg ensembles so that entanglement or dressing improves sensitivity beyond the standard quantum limit, which is exactly the theory an NV-ensemble sensing programme needs and rarely has in-house.

Department(s)/lab(s): Department of Physics, 1st Institute of Physics | Dressel Group - Correlated Matter Spectroscopy (1. Physikalisches Institut) @ Stuttgart
Summary:

Dressel's institute specializes in broadband electrodynamic spectroscopy -- microwave through THz to optical -- of low-dimensional and strongly correlated electron systems: organic conductors, quantum spin liquids, superconductors, and quantum magnets, complemented by ESR/EPR and low-temperature transport. Relative to the established NV-ensemble quantum-sensing playbook (DEER, nanoscale NMR, T1 relaxometry at pT/sqrt(Hz) ensemble sensitivity), a borderline inclusion, kept because the group's core competence is high-sensitivity resonant detection of weak electrodynamic responses (and it houses ESR capability), which is adjacent to spin-ensemble sensing even though the scientific target is the material rather than the sensor.

Department(s)/lab(s): Physics | 4th Institute of Physics (Giessen Group) @ Stuttgart
Summary:

Giessen works on ultrafast nano-optics and plasmonics, plasmonic and metasurface sensors, femtosecond two-photon 3D-printed micro-optics (on fiber tips and detectors), widely tunable ultrafast/mid-IR sources for molecular sensing, and Rydberg-exciton quantum optics in cuprous oxide. In the broader landscape of NV-centre ensemble quantum sensing (DEER, nano-NMR, T1 relaxometry) operating near pT/sqrt(Hz) sensitivity, this work sits adjacent as a nanophotonic sensing and light-source enabler.

Department(s)/lab(s): Institute of Applied Optics (ITO) | Herkommer Group - Design and Simulation of Optical Systems (ITO) @ Stuttgart
Summary:

Herkommer holds the chair for Design and Simulation of Optical Systems at Stuttgart's Institute of Applied Optics (ITO), the group behind much of the optical-design side of two-photon-3D-printed micro-optics -- printing complete multi-lens objectives on the tip of a single-mode fibre, which enables ultrathin endoscopic imaging and micro-objectives that cannot be made by conventional polishing. Related work covers freeform and metasurface optics, aberration theory, and adaptive/computational imaging. Long-running collaboration with Giessen (existing PI) at the 4th Institute of Physics. Relative to the established NV-ensemble quantum-sensing playbook (DEER, nanoscale NMR, T1 relaxometry at pT/sqrt(Hz) ensemble sensitivity), a borderline inclusion on the microscopy axis: the group does not do sensing itself, but it makes the optics that get a diffraction-limited spot into places you otherwise cannot reach -- directly useful for fibre-coupled NV probes and endoscopic quantum sensing.

Department(s)/lab(s): Department of Physics, Institute for Functional Matter and Quantum Technologies | Hong Group - Hybrid Optical Quantum Technologies @ Stuttgart
Summary:

Hong runs Hybrid Optical Quantum Technologies within Stuttgart's FMQ institute: optomechanical and opto-mechanical-spin hybrid devices used for quantum sensing and for tests of quantum mechanics at larger mass scales. Work covers cavity/phononic-crystal optomechanics driven toward the quantum regime (ground-state cooling, back-action-evading and quantum-limited displacement/force readout) and the coupling of diamond spin defects to mechanical motion, including levitated-diamond spin-mechanics -- where an NV inside a levitated particle both senses and controls the particle's motion. Relative to the established NV-ensemble quantum-sensing playbook (DEER, nanoscale NMR, T1 relaxometry at pT/sqrt(Hz) ensemble sensitivity), this is the same colour-centre physics, deliberately hybridized with mechanics: the sensing target shifts from magnetic field to force, acceleration and displacement, and the group sits alongside Wrachtrup's NV programme in the same building, which is a considerable practical advantage.

Department(s)/lab(s): Chemistry | Krueger Group (Institute of Organic Chemistry) @ Stuttgart
Summary:

Krueger's chemistry group develops diamond and nanodiamond surface chemistry, functionalization and bioconjugation that make NV centres viable, shallow, coherent quantum sensors for chemical and biological targets - the materials-chemistry enabler for NV ensemble sensing. She co-leads Stuttgart's quantum-technologies profile. In the broader landscape of NV-centre ensemble quantum sensing (DEER, nano-NMR, T1 relaxometry) operating near pT/sqrt(Hz) sensitivity, this work is enabled at the surface-chemistry level by this work.

Department(s)/lab(s): Department of Physics, 2nd Institute of Physics | Liu Group - Smart Nanoplasmonics (2. Physikalisches Institut) @ Stuttgart
Summary:

Liu's group sits at the junction of DNA nanotechnology and nanophotonics: DNA-origami-templated plasmonic assemblies, reconfigurable artificial nanomachines whose motion is read out optically (chiral plasmonics, FRET), and, increasingly, synthetic-cell systems -- DNA-based pores and a programmable DNA-origami nanosyringe for directed membrane translocation, the latter published jointly with Nussberger's biophysics group at Stuttgart. The through-line is building nanoscale machines that both actuate and report. Relative to the established NV-ensemble quantum-sensing playbook (DEER, nanoscale NMR, T1 relaxometry at pT/sqrt(Hz) ensemble sensitivity), the relevance is on the biosensing axis: this is the group that can put a nanoscale probe exactly where you want it on or through a membrane, which is the delivery problem that in-cell quantum sensing keeps running into. Preferred-attribute note: nanofabrication is heavily used, but the emphasis is on single-molecule optical readout rather than device manufacture per se.

Department(s)/lab(s): Physics | Institute of Experimental Physics I (Loth Group) @ Stuttgart
Summary:

Loth combines ESR-STM with ultrafast terahertz-driven STM to read out and control individual atomic and molecular spins with atomic spatial and picosecond temporal resolution - single-spin quantum sensing at the ultimate spatial limit. In the broader landscape of NV-centre ensemble quantum sensing (DEER, nano-NMR, T1 relaxometry) operating near pT/sqrt(Hz) sensitivity, this work pushes spin sensing to the single-atom, ultrafast regime.