Description: Four-probe magnetotransport, Hall effect, and conductance quantization measurements at mK temperatures.
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.
Ardavan leads the Quantum Spin Dynamics group, studying quantum coherent phenomena in condensed matter. Central to the lab's quantum sensing relevance: (1) molecular spin qubits β using pulsed EPR/DEER to characterise and control multi-spin registers ({Cr7Ni} molecular rings, nitroxide radical chains) assembled into qubit networks, measuring coherence times, inter-qubit couplings, and demonstrating spin-electric coupling in molecular magnets; (2) DNA-assembled molecular quantum devices β using DNA nanostructures to precisely position molecular spin qubits for multi-qubit sensing and quantum information applications; (3) surface atom spin resonance β STM-based coherent spin control of individual atoms on surfaces at nanosecond timescales. Uses X-band through W-band pulsed EPR at Centre for Advanced Electron Spin Resonance (CAESR), Oxford.
Cassidy (formerly Microsoft/Sydney) builds hybrid superconductor-semiconductor quantum devices and the microwave measurement chains needed to read them out: dispersive gate sensing, superconducting resonators coupled to semiconductor nanostructures, and quantum-limited parametric amplification. The programme sits at the boundary between quantum computing hardware and quantum sensing β many of the same circuits used to read a qubit are, viewed differently, near-quantum-limited detectors of microwave photons or of charge. Positioned against the established body of NV-ensemble quantum sensing work β DEER, nanoscale NMR and T1 relaxometry protocols operating at pT/sqrt(Hz) field sensitivity β a superconducting-resonator readout chain with a quantum-limited amplifier is the leading route to inductively-detected spin resonance at sensitivities well below the pT/sqrt(Hz) regime accessible to optical NV ensembles, and Cassidy's group has the full stack of skills required. Mid-career, actively building; good autonomy for a postdoc.
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.
Cohadon and Heidmann co-lead the Optomechanics and Quantum Measurements group at LKB. Research directions: (1) Back-action evasion and Standard Quantum Limit (SQL) β early demonstration of radiation-pressure back-action in a micro-mirror (Nature 2006), subsequent beating of SQL via quantum correlations; (2) Micro/nanomechanical resonators β 2D photonic crystal deformable slabs, membrane-in-the-middle cavities, micropillar resonators for radiation-pressure optomechanics; (3) Superconducting qubitβmacroscopic membrane coupling β Jacqmin & DelΓ©glise team: resonant coupling of transmon qubit to MHz membrane oscillator, tracking quantum motion with 300 repeated interactions (2025); high-impedance hyperinductors for electromechanics; (4) Gravitational wave detector contributions β VIRGO/LIGO data analysis and quantum noise modeling. Applications include back-action-evading force sensing and tests of quantum mechanics at macroscopic scales.
Croot returned from Princeton to found Sydney's Superconducting Quantum Circuits Laboratory. The programme uses superconducting circuits both as quantum processors and as extremely sensitive probes: coupling microwave resonators and qubits to other degrees of freedom (mechanical modes, semiconductor structures, spins) to build hybrid systems, and developing the quantum-limited amplification chain that makes single-microwave-photon detection possible. Positioned against the established body of NV-ensemble quantum sensing work β DEER, nanoscale NMR and T1 relaxometry protocols operating at pT/sqrt(Hz) field sensitivity β superconducting circuits are the principal competitor technology for detecting the weak microwave signals that NV ensembles read magnetically; a quantum-limited or squeezed microwave amplifier is what lets an inductively-detected spin ensemble reach β and beat β the pT/sqrt(Hz) regime. Newly established, well-equipped lab; high autonomy for a postdoc and active recruitment as the lab builds out.
Dzurak leads the silicon CMOS quantum dot spin qubit programme at UNSW and co-founded Diraq, the company commercialising it. The group demonstrated the first silicon MOS qubit, two-qubit logic in silicon, and has pushed toward fidelities above the fault-tolerance threshold in industrially-manufactured CMOS devices, including work on gate-stack engineering for low charge noise and on single-electron-transistor charge sensing for readout. Positioned against the established body of NV-ensemble quantum sensing work β DEER, nanoscale NMR and T1 relaxometry protocols operating at pT/sqrt(Hz) field sensitivity β the relevant transferable asset is the readout: the single-electron-transistor and gate-based dispersive sensors this group builds are among the most sensitive electrometers in existence, the charge-domain analogue of pT/sqrt(Hz) magnetometry. Caveat against the stated preference: the programme is now heavily fabrication- and yield-driven and closely tied to a commercial roadmap, so a sensing-focused postdoc would be somewhat off the group's main axis.
Fruth is an experimentalist on LZ, the world-leading liquid-xenon dark matter experiment, and works on the detector-physics end: electron and single-photon backgrounds, calibration, and the characterisation of the anomalous low-energy events that currently limit sensitivity at the bottom of the energy spectrum. The programme is a pure exercise in pushing a detector's noise floor down until it is limited by irreducible physics (the neutrino fog). Positioned against the established body of NV-ensemble quantum sensing work β DEER, nanoscale NMR and T1 relaxometry protocols operating at pT/sqrt(Hz) field sensitivity β dark matter detection and NV-ensemble magnetometry are the same problem in different clothing β an exquisitely quiet detector, a signal below the background, and a systematics budget that determines everything β and the quantum-sensing community is increasingly supplying the readout technology (quantum-limited amplifiers, single-photon counters) that these experiments now need. Early-career PI.
Halsall is a senior PSI photonics researcher focusing on semiconductor spectroscopy and photonic quantum device characterization. Research directions: (1) Deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) β characterizing defects and impurities in semiconductor quantum device structures (Si, GaN, SiC) that are relevant to qubit coherence; (2) Photoluminescence mapping β spatial mapping of optical quality in quantum well and dot wafers for quantum sensing device development; (3) InGaN/GaN quantum wells β non-destructive optical characterization of LED and sensor structures; (4) THz and infrared spectroscopy β contactless Hall measurements and Drude response for quantum material characterization. Provides photonic metrology tools for characterizing quantum sensing device materials.
Hamilton heads the Quantum Electronic Devices group and is Deputy Director of the ARC Centre for Future Low Energy Electronics (FLEET). The group works on hole-based quantum devices in GaAs and germanium, where strong spin-orbit coupling allows all-electrical spin control, and on topological materials and one-dimensional transport. The measurements are millikelvin transport and noise spectroscopy of very small signals in mesoscopic devices. Positioned against the established body of NV-ensemble quantum sensing work β DEER, nanoscale NMR and T1 relaxometry protocols operating at pT/sqrt(Hz) field sensitivity β the link is indirect β this is charge/spin transport rather than magnetometry β but the group's expertise in low-noise cryogenic measurement and in spin-orbit-mediated electrical spin control is directly transferable to electrically-detected spin sensing, which is the main alternative to the optical readout that limits pT/sqrt(Hz) NV ensembles. Borderline inclusion; kept under the inclusive rubric.