Faculty of Science
Faculty of Science
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Georg H. Endress-Stiftungsprofessur für Experimentalphysik (Maletinsky)

Projects & Collaborations

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ASTERIQS

Research Project  | 1 Project Members

ASTERIQS will exploit quantum sensing based on the NV centre in ultrapure diamond to bring solutions to societal and economical needs for which no solution exists yet. Its objectives are to develop: 1) Advanced applications based on magnetic field measurement: fully integrated scanning diamond magnetometer instrument for nanometer scale measurements, high dynamics range magnetic field sensor to control advanced batteries used in electrical car industry, labonChip Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) detector for early diagnosis of disease, magnetic field imaging camera for biology or robotics, instantaneous spectrum analyser for wireless communications management; 2) New sensing applications to sense temperature within a cell, to monitor new states of matter under high pressure, to sense electric field with ultimate sensitivity; 3) New measurement tools to elucidate the chemical structure of single molecules by NMR for pharmaceutical industry or the structure of spintronics devices at the nanoscale for new generation spin-based electronic devices. ASTERIQS will develop enabling tools to achieve these goals: highest grade diamond material with ultralow impurity level, advanced protocols to overcome residual noise in sensing schemes, optimized engineering for miniaturized and efficient devices. ASTERIQS will disseminate its results towards academia and industry and educate next generation physicists and engineers. It will contribute to the strategic objectives of the Quantum Flagship to expand European leadership in quantum technologies, deliver scientific breakthroughs, make available European technological platforms and develop synergetic collaborations with them, and finally kick-start a competitive European quantum industry. The ASTERIQS consortium federates world leading European academic and industrial partners to bring quantum sensing from the laboratory to applications for the benefit of European citizens.

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NanoMAGIQ

Research Project  | 1 Project Members

Magnetic imaging is a tool widely used in a large variety of applications ranging from basic material science, to electronic device testing, to medical diagnostic. But classical technologies fail to provide good enough resolution to address the nanometer scale. Yet today, this corresponds to the process size in the semiconductor industry: the new generations of transistors and memory cells all have features in the 10 nm range. Therefore, there is a critical demand for solutions going beyond current capabilities. Qnami develops sensors for magnetic imaging based on a quantum technology. This brings unique sensitivity and unique resolution. Our quantum sensors operate under ambient conditions, which simplifies use and maintains operation costs at a low level. Qnami's ambition is to provide the semiconductor industry with analytical tools for design testing and failure analysis, and to help researchers exploring new avenues in material and life sciences. Our first product is a magnetic sensor with optical read-out, which combines nanometer resolution with a sensitivity to just a hundred atoms, limited by quantum noise. It is carved out of ultra-pure diamond, which brings two further advantages: robustness and bio-compatibility. The goal of this proposal is to evaluate the business potential of our innovation and prepare for investment rounds. The three main objectives of this proposal are 1) to deploy our technology and address a short list of >10 customers from a first market of expert academic users, 2) to evaluate the potential of the semiconductor segment and to engage with a first customer 3) to rationalize production costs and optimize the revenue model in order to ensure a sustainable and profitable business, and attract private investment.

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Exploring nanoscale magnetic phenomena using a quantum microscope

Research Project  | 2 Project Members

Quantum sensors harness quantum phenomena, such as superposition or entanglement to yield powerful sensors for quantities such as electric and magnetic fields, strain fields or temperature. Over the last years, such quantum sensors and in particular magnetometers based on individual spins in diamond have seen remarkable progress, in part based on the successful research and technological developments by the applicant's group at the University of Basel. Todays state-of-the art quantum magnetometers, such as the ones we currently operate in Basel, offer spatial resolutions ~10 nm, magnetic field sensitivities up to 20 nT/Hz^0.5 and operate from cryogenic to ambient conditions. In this project, we will build on the outstanding performance of our existing magnetometers to address interesting and pressing questions in condensed matter and mesoscopic physics. The performance of our instruments are ideally suited to address these topics in a way impossible with other existing technologies. Our project will on one hand focus on open problems in spintronics and nano-magnetism and on the other hand address challenges in mesoscopic physics of superconductors and low-dimensional electronic systems. Our powerful new technology and the scientific insights it will generate will have far-reaching impact in physics and material sciences and will offer new views on magnetism on the nanoscale. Specifically, we will employ our magnetometers to study high-frequency dynamics in nanoscale magnetic systems. Examples include ferromagnetic resonance and spin-wave propagation that we will both study on the nanoscale. These phenomena are central to spintronics and quantum information processing and our results will thereby contribute to progress in both these fields. In a second line of experiments, we will address mesoscopic, condensed matter systems at cryogenic temperatures. A particular focus will lie on the imaging of current-distributions in superconductors and low-dimensional electronic systems, such as graphene. A broad range of open questions exist in these domains - questions that our NV magnetometers will allow us to address for the first time. We will thereby bring significant new understanding to these diverse aspects of condensed matter physics at the nanoscale.

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Single spin imaging of strongly correlated electron systems

Research Project  | 1 Project Members

Strongly correlated electron systems form a vibrant research field at the heart of condensed matter physics. They are of fundamental interest and highly promising for a broad range of applications from high temperature superconductivity to novel solid-state memory devices. However, despite significant efforts, full understanding of these fascinating materials remains an outstanding challenge. A central bottleneck for further progress is the lack of suitable tools to directly assess microscopic origins and manifestations of electronic correlations down to the level of single electrons. Here, I propose to apply a completely novel approach based on quantum-coherent sensing technologies to explore strongly correlated electron systems on the nanoscale and thereby promote our understanding of quantum matter to a new level. My group will engineer and apply an ultralow temperature scanning probe apparatus that uses single electrons as highly sensitive magnetometers. This approach combines nanometric imaging resolution, single electron spin sensitivity, and quantitative magnetic imaging - performance-characteristics that no existing method offers. My project focuses on the study of unexplored local magnetic phenomena, which emerge as Hallmarks of electronic correlations. Examples include spontaneous symmetry-breaking in quantum Hall states, fractional vortices in superconductors and magnetism in oxide interfaces. Our nanoscale studies of these phenomena will offer unprecedented insight into these complex states and my proposal thus has the potential to revolutionise our understanding of exotic quantum matter. This project combines key technological innovations with experiments of far-reaching scientific impact. It is highly interdisciplinary as it combines quantum-control and quantum-engineering with fundamental questions in condensed matter physics. This challenging project goes well beyond the state-of-the-art and could define the beginning of a new era in the field of quantum-sensing. I will thereby further strengthen Switzerland's position at the forefront of this vibrant research area. My project requires a several year commitment, significant investment in instrumentation and a team of two graduate students plus one postdoctoral fellow.

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Surface functionalization of diamond nano-magnetometers for applications in nano- and life sciences

Research Project  | 2 Project Members

Magnetic field imaging and sensing are fundamental and widely used experimental methods, which are routinely applied in a variety of scientific disciplines from chemistry, biology to the physical sciences. While such use is wellestablished at the macro-scale (such as in clinical magnetic resonance imaging), promoting these imaging approaches to the nano-scale would open fascinating new avenues, ranging from the structural determination and dynamics of individual (bio)- molecules to the imaging of complex electronic systems at the single electron level. Currently, such applications are impossible, as existing approaches to magnetic imaging are hampered by poor spatial resolution and insensitivity to weak fields, which in combination do not allow for nanoscale magnetic field imaging. However, recent research results [1][2][3] give strong evidence that these limitations could be overcome by utilizing single electronic spins to enable a new generation of magnetometers, which operate deeply in the nanoscale. A particularly useful system sin this context are single electronic spins in the form of Nitrogen-Vacancy (NV) centers in ultrapure diamond [5]. The versatility of such NV magnetometers has been demonstrated in first proof-of-concept studies to yield single electron spin sensitivity [7] and imaging resolutions down to the nanoscale [4]. In order to fully exploit the potential of NV magnetometry in scientifically relevant settings and future application in sensing, stable and highly quantum-coherent NV centers have to be created in close proximity to the diamond surface [8], where they can positioned within few nanometers from an imaging target. However, such shallow NV centers are highly susceptible to and influenced by the chemistry of the nearby diamond surface. Indeed, recent studies have shown that such "shallow" NV centers exhibit significantly decreased spin coherence times as compared to their bulk counterparts [9] and as a result show reduced performance in magnetic sensing. This detrimental influence of the surface is caused by fluctuating fields generated by uncontrolled charges and spins (dangling bonds) present on the surface and could thus be avoided by proper termination of the diamond surface. To realize high-performance nanoscale NV magnetometers, it is therefore indispensable to gain a high degree of control of diamond's surface chemistry by a targeted even termination with different chemical funtionalities. Furthermore, such termination is an important prerequisite and starting point for further surface functionalization, which are key elements for future sensing applications. For example, a target for NV magnetometry, such as complex bio-molecules could be attached to the diamond surface and then be sensed and imaged by a close by, shallow NV center. The ultimate goal of this approach would be to provide atomically resolved, structural information of such molecules on the single-molecule level. This would provide deep insight into the structural behaviour of a broad range of molecules and will open up a new route to biosensing applications with ultimate sensitivity. In order to achieve these challenging, scientifically highly interesting and demanding goals, we here propose the targeted engineering of the diamond surface by a defined chemical termination with a high degree of control with respect to uniformity and density of the terminating chemical entities. This will allow for deterministic preparation of highly quantum coherent NV centers in close proximity to the diamond surface for sensing. In the second phase of the proposed thesis project, diamond's surface chemistry will be further explored and expanded in first instance to the immobilization of small molecules exhibiting interesting magnetic properties like e.g. the spinlable TEMPO or various metal complexes and in a second phase more complex molecules like the haem-center or metalloproteins to point the direction towards first scientifically valuable applications of NV magnetometry in nano-physics and the life-sciences. In summary, the goals of our proposed project application are to obtain a well-defined, chemically terminated diamond surface, which protects the NV spin from surface-induced spin dephasing. Furthermore, we will demonstrate the functionalization of the as-prepared diamond surface with various molecules and molecular complexes with a particular focus towards future applications in the life-sciences. Finally we will combine our highly coherent, shallow NV spins with the functionalized diamond surfaces to study the physics and nano-chemistry of the attached molecules.

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wide bandwidth tunable laser

Research Project  | 1 Project Members

A supercontinuum (SC) light source is a pulsed, broadband, high-power tunable light source, which generates 100ps optical pulses with variable repetition rates (1-80MHz) over a broad wavelength range ~450-2000nm. It forms a valuable resource for various applications in spectroscopy, fluorescence lifetime measurements and confocal microscopy. We propose the purchase of such a SC light source as a joint investments for our research groups. This device is of high scientific value to our ongoing experiments and a joint purchase is currently a very attractive option: The SC source would only be used for ~50% of the time in each lab; it is highly portable and fiber-coupled, which allow it to be set up in the respective labs in a minimal amount of time (~15 minutes installation time). The Maletinsky-group will use the device primarily for lifetime-measurements of individual quantum emitters (color-centers in diamond) and for studying Förster resonance energy transfer processes using a scanning color-center. These experiments require a pulsed, sub-nanosecond light source in the green wavelength range (~532nm), with variable repetition rates of the output pulses; requirements that are ideally met by a SC source. In addition, the source will be employed in a collaborative project with the Warburton group, to characterize the properties of optical microcavities containing diamond-based color centers. The Meyer group will use the SC source to explore molecular absorption of photons on the atomic scale by combining optical excitation with Kelvin-probe microscopy - a core-expertise developed in the Meyer group. Essential for these experiments is the availability of a wavelength-tunable source of optical excitation in the visible range (300-800nm) with sufficient intensity, tenability and user-friendliness; combined properties that only SC light sources can offer. Additionally, the SC source will be employed in interdisciplinary projects in the fields of dye-based solar-cells (measurement of quantum-efficiency and impedance-spectroscopy) in collaboration with the groups of Catherine Housecroft and Ed Constable.