Summary: Europe's premier technical university for quantum sensing, with ~30 groups coordinated by the Quantum Center (qc.ethz.ch). Key groups directly relevant to quantum sensing: Degen (NV magnetometry, single-molecule NMR β world-leading for biological quantum sensing); Novotny (levitated optomechanics, near-field nanophotonics); Quidant (hybrid levitation, quantum sensing of force); Home/TIQI (trapped-ion metrology); Faist/IQE (quantum cascade lasers for molecular sensing); Esslinger (quantum gases). The FIRST Center cleanroom and ETHβPSI Quantum Computing Hub provide exceptional facilities. Strong for both bio and fundamental/astro sensing.
Notes: Top-5 global technical university (QS #7 overall, #1 engineering). The Quantum Center (qc.ethz.ch) and Quantum Engineering Initiative (QEI) coordinate ~30 member groups across D-PHYS, D-ITET, D-MATL, and D-MAVT. Flagship quantum facilities: FIRST Center (cleanrooms), BRNC (Basel research), and the ETHβPSI Quantum Computing Hub. Key groups in scope: Spin Physics (Degen, NV magnetometry/single-molecule NMR), Photonics Lab (Novotny, levitodynamics), Nanophotonic Systems Lab (Quidant, hybrid levitation), TIQI (Home, trapped-ion metrology), IQE (Faist, QCL; Esslinger, quantum optics; Craik, ion parity-violation), HyQu (Chu, quantum acoustics). Strong industry and national-lab ecosystem.
Aeppli leads the Quantum Technologies Group spanning ETH Zurich, EPFL, and PSI. Research directions: (1) Quantum materials imaging β 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 β LiHoF4 as a model quantum system; Er, Pr, and Nd spin qubits in crystals for quantum information and sensing; (3) Semiconductor quantum devices β 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.
Craik leads the RAVIOLIS project (SNSF Starting Grant, started July 2025) measuring atomic parity violation in barium ions at <0.1% precision. Her entanglement protocol uses multi-ion entangled states with photonic integrated waveguide addressing to common-mode-reject parity-conserving systematics. Previous work: precision measurement of Ba+ dipole transition probabilities below 1% uncertainty; first laser-guided individual addressing of Ba+ qubits with <10^-4 intensity crosstalk; isotope-shift spectroscopy in Ca+ for fifth-force searches. She is actively recruiting for postdocs and PhD students for the new Ba+ ion trap experiment.
Chu leads the Hybrid Quantum Systems Group coupling mechanical resonators to superconducting circuits and diamond color centers. Research directions: (1) Circuit quantum acousto-dynamics (cQAD) β HBAR resonators coupled to transmon qubits achieve single-phonon nonlinearity (coherence/anharmonicity ratio 6.8), mechanical qubit gates demonstrated (arXiv 2406.07360, 2024); (2) Optimal control for high Fock state preparation in bulk resonators; (3) Ultra-cold mechanical quantum sensor β cryogenically cooled nanomechanical oscillators as probes for new physics beyond the standard model; (4) Coupling NV/SiV color centers in diamond to acoustic waves for hybrid quantum memory and transduction. Targets long-lived phonon storage for quantum networking and quantum sensing beyond the standard quantum limit.
Degen leads the Spin Physics and Imaging group, one of the world's leading NV-center magnetometry labs. Research directions (as of 2025): (1) Scanning NV magnetometry of quantum materials β NV-tipped cantilevers image current flow (β²50 nm resolution) in graphene heterostructures and resolve domain walls in antiferromagnets/ferroelectrics; cryogenic scanning down to 350 mK in dilution refrigerator (published Appl. Phys. Lett. 2022). (2) Single-molecule NMR β shallow NV centers detect nuclear spins from surface-adsorbed molecules with sub-nanometer 3D resolution; 2022 Nano Lett. on amine-functionalized diamond surfaces; exploring chirality-induced spin selectivity at few-molecule level. (3) NV magnetometry protocols β reconstruction-free waveform sensing (1.1 ns time resolution, Nature 2025), gradiometric detection, spectrum demodulation for rapid scanning, multi-NV addressing. (4) Diamond nanoengineering β multicone pillar waveguides, surface engineering, scanning probe fabrication. ERC Proof-of-Concept 2025 for photonic IC single-photon NV excitation/detection for commercial quantum sensing.
Faist is the inventor of the quantum cascade laser (QCL, 1994 at Bell Labs) and leads the Quantum Optoelectronics Group at ETH. Research directions: (1) QCL frequency combs β ring QCLs demonstrate dissipative Kerr solitons in the THz (Science Advances 2023), key for broadband integrated mid-IR spectrometers; (2) Dual-comb spectroscopy β two co-integrated ring QCLs for ultrafast molecular fingerprinting; (3) Quantum cascade detectors β strain-compensated InGaAs/InAlAs QCDs for short-wave mid-IR (<4 Β΅m) sensing; (4) THz strong-coupling β ultrastrongly coupled 2DEG in cavities for quantum photonics; (5) Astrophysical heterodyne receivers β double-metal QCL Josephson mixers. Spin-off: IRsweep (mid-IR dual-comb systems) and Alpes Lasers (QCL commercialisation). FIRST Center head at ETH.
Gambardella leads the Magnetism and Interface Physics group at ETH D-MATL. Research directions: (1) Scanning probe magnetometry β 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 β current-induced magnetization switching via interfacial spin-orbit coupling; spin Hall and Rashba effects for spintronic devices; (3) Single-atom magnetism β STM and X-ray absorption for element-specific orbital and spin moments of individual atoms on surfaces; (4) XMCD at synchrotron β quantitative element-specific magnetic spectroscopy. Quantum sensing angle: spin-orbit driven phenomena, high-resolution magnetic imaging.
Grange leads the Optical Nanomaterial Group at ETH, developing nonlinear materials for quantum photonic integrated circuits. Research directions: (1) Barium titanate (BTO) nanophotonics β scalable CMOS-compatible BTO thin-film integrated circuits exploiting large Ο(2) nonlinearity for quantum entangled photon-pair generation via SPDC; (2) Lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI) β quantum photonic integrated circuits for heralded single-photon sources and electro-optic transduction; (3) Second-harmonic generation sensing β SHG-active nanocrystals as contrast agents and phase-sensitive probes in biological imaging; (4) On-chip entangled photon sources for quantum communication and sensing. Strong quantum sensing application in nonlinear optical readout of quantum states.
Home leads the TIQI group working with Be+ and Ca+ trapped ions. Research directions: (1) Quantum error correction β fault-tolerant gates, surface code implementations with multi-ion chains; (2) Precision metrology β ytterbium ion optical clock, mixed-species ion chain spectroscopy and ytterbium HFS measurements; (3) Macroscopic superposition and quantum contextuality β creating nonclassical motional states in harmonic oscillators for tests of quantum foundations; (4) Scalable architectures β photonic integrated waveguides for individual ion addressing, quantum logic detection of spectroscopy ions. Key publications include first two-qubit gates with mixed species and records in quantum state readout fidelity. Lab is investigating quantum logic-enhanced spectroscopy of complex atomic systems.
Imamoglu leads the Quantum Photonics Group at ETH, working at the intersection of quantum optics and condensed matter physics. Research directions: (1) Quantum emitters in 2D semiconductors β TMD monolayers (MoSe2, WSe2) host localized excitons that act as single-photon emitters; electrically tunable quantum dots in TMD heterostructures with high purity and spin-photon entanglement; developing them as quantum sensors of local electronic correlations at nanometer scales; (2) Strongly correlated electron physics β Mott insulator / Wigner crystal phases in moirΓ© TMD bilayers probed optically with single-photon resolution; mapping electronic phases with nanometer spatial resolution; (3) Polariton quantum fluids β exciton-polaritons in 2D semiconductor microcavities; (4) Quantum nonlinear optics β photon-photon interactions via giant Kerr nonlinearities in strongly coupled quantum dots. Quantum sensing angle: quantum emitters as nanoscale probes of correlated phases.
Merkt leads the Molecular Physics and Spectroscopy group at ETH D-CHAB. Research directions: (1) High-resolution XUV/VUV spectroscopy β using synchrotron radiation and table-top laser sources to study molecular Rydberg states, ionization thresholds, and ro-vibrational structure at sub-MHz precision; (2) Precision molecular clock transitions β proposing and measuring molecular transitions suitable for fundamental constant variation searches (ΞΌ, Ξ±); (3) Metastable atom and ion trapping β developing new trapping methods for precision spectroscopy of exotic species; (4) Pulse and Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy β rotational spectroscopy of transient species. Direct applications to molecular quantum sensing and fundamental physics.