Tags - (7) PRISMA+ cluster of excellence

Department(s)/lab(s): Institute of Physics (ETAP) | AG Boeser - Neutrino Astronomy (IceCube) @ JGU
Summary:

Boeser works on neutrino astronomy and neutrino properties with the IceCube observatory at the South Pole, including optical-module instrumentation and calibration, ice-optics characterization, and oscillation/sterile-neutrino analyses; the group is also involved in next-generation radio and optical detection concepts. Relative to the established NV-ensemble quantum-sensing playbook (DEER, nanoscale NMR, T1 relaxometry at pT/sqrt(Hz) ensemble sensitivity), the relevance is instrumental rather than quantum-mechanical: photodetection, timing at ns level, and calibration of a km^3-scale detector. Included as an astronomy/astrophysics pivot where the sensor is the experiment.

Department(s)/lab(s): Institute of Physics (ETAP) | AG Oberlack - Astroparticle Physics (XENON) @ JGU
Summary:

Oberlack leads Mainz's contribution to the XENON/XENONnT dual-phase liquid-xenon dark-matter programme at Gran Sasso, covering detector instrumentation, ultra-low-background material screening, light and charge readout, and the associated rare-event analysis; the same detectors also probe neutrinoless double beta decay and coherent neutrino scattering. Relative to the established NV-ensemble quantum-sensing playbook (DEER, nanoscale NMR, T1 relaxometry at pT/sqrt(Hz) ensemble sensitivity), this is an astro-particle pivot: the shared discipline is single-quantum detection at absurd background rejection, and the group is a natural landing spot for a quantum-sensing postdoc interested in low-background readout electronics or in the growing overlap between quantum sensors and dark-matter searches.

Department(s)/lab(s): Institute of Physics (QUANTUM) | AG Pohl - Muonic Atom Spectroscopy @ JGU
Summary:

Pohl is the central figure in muonic-atom precision spectroscopy -- the measurements that produced the proton-radius puzzle. Replacing the electron with a muon shrinks the Bohr radius ~200x and amplifies sensitivity to nuclear structure by ~10^7, so laser and microwave spectroscopy of muonic hydrogen/deuterium/helium yields charge and magnetization radii at otherwise unreachable precision. Current pushes: the CREMA/HyperMu measurement of the proton's magnetic (Zemach) structure via the muonic-hydrogen hyperfine splitting, and QUARTET, targeting ~10x better charge radii for light nuclei from Li to Ne. Work is done at PSI with cryogenic targets, ultrafast trigger lasers and X-ray detector arrays. Relative to the established NV-ensemble quantum-sensing playbook (DEER, nanoscale NMR, T1 relaxometry at pT/sqrt(Hz) ensemble sensitivity), this is a different sensing regime entirely -- the 'sensor' is the atom and the challenge is systematics at the 10^-5 level -- but it is a strong pivot for a postdoc who wants extreme metrology and detector work rather than condensed-matter spin physics.

Department(s)/lab(s): Institute of Physics (QUANTUM) | Quantenbit (AG Schmidt-Kaler) @ JGU
Summary:

Quantenbit operates segmented micro-structured Paul traps for scalable trapped-ion quantum information and, increasingly, for quantum sensing. Directions: (i) trapped Rydberg ions -- combining the tight confinement of a Paul trap with the giant polarizability of Rydberg states, which is simultaneously a fast-gate resource and an extremely sensitive electric-field probe; (ii) motional-mode sensing of electric fields and surface noise; (iii) deterministic single-ion implantation, where a cold ion is extracted from the trap and implanted with nm-scale placement -- directly relevant to building NV/donor arrays with known ion counts, and to single-ion detection validation; (iv) TACTICa, applying ion-trapping and quantum-logic spectroscopy to 229Th toward a nuclear clock; (v) single-atom heat engines and quantum thermodynamics. Relative to the established NV-ensemble quantum-sensing playbook (DEER, nanoscale NMR, T1 relaxometry at pT/sqrt(Hz) ensemble sensitivity), the deterministic-implantation line is the natural upstream complement: it is the route to engineering NV ensembles/arrays with controlled density rather than relying on stochastic implantation. Strong local coupling to Budker (Th-229, exotic physics) and Wendt (laser ionization).

Department(s)/lab(s): Institute of Physics (QUANTUM) | LARISSA (AG Wendt) @ JGU
Summary:

The LARISSA group develops multi-step resonance ionization laser spectroscopy and RIMS: element- and isotope-selective laser ionization used both as an ultratrace analytical technique (actinide detection at extreme selectivity, environmental and nuclear-forensic samples) and as a spectroscopy tool for exotic and short-lived isotopes, feeding ion-source development for facilities such as ISOLDE/CERN. A major current thrust is the atomic and ionic spectroscopy of thorium, including the 229mTh isomer that underpins the nuclear-clock effort, done jointly with Schmidt-Kaler's trap group and Duellmann's nuclear chemistry. Relative to the established NV-ensemble quantum-sensing playbook (DEER, nanoscale NMR, T1 relaxometry at pT/sqrt(Hz) ensemble sensitivity), the transferable capability here is selective, quantum-state-resolved detection of single atoms/ions -- the readout problem, approached spectroscopically rather than magnetically.

Department(s)/lab(s): Institute of Physics (QUANTUM) | AG Windpassinger - Experimental Quantum Optics and Quantum Information @ JGU
Summary:

Windpassinger's group works on cold neutral atoms as both a platform for fundamental light-matter physics and a deployable sensing technology. The fundamental line uses dysprosium -- the most magnetic element -- to study light propagation in dense dipolar media, where interatomic spacings fall below the optical wavelength and light-induced plus magnetic dipole-dipole interactions produce cooperative effects (superradiance, subradiance); controlled transport in optical dipole traps and microfocusing let them tune from single-atom to collective behaviour. The applied line builds ultracold-atom quantum sensors that survive outside the lab: atom interferometers and BEC sources flown in the Bremen drop tower, on sounding rockets, and on the ISS, aimed at inertial sensing, gravimetry and tests of fundamental constants under microgravity. Relative to the established NV-ensemble quantum-sensing playbook (DEER, nanoscale NMR, T1 relaxometry at pT/sqrt(Hz) ensemble sensitivity), this is the complementary 'cold and fragile but absolutely calibrated' end of the sensing spectrum; the group's real distinguishing asset for a postdoc is the space/microgravity engineering pipeline, which is rare. The group states it is continuously looking for motivated researchers and lists open positions via the PI.

Department(s)/lab(s): Institute of Physics (ETAP) | AG Wurm - Neutrino Physics (JUNO) @ JGU
Summary:

Wurm's group builds and exploits large liquid-scintillator neutrino detectors, principally JUNO (reactor neutrinos, mass ordering) plus low-energy solar and geo-neutrino physics; work spans scintillator chemistry and optical purity, photosensor characterization, and reconstruction. Relative to the established NV-ensemble quantum-sensing playbook (DEER, nanoscale NMR, T1 relaxometry at pT/sqrt(Hz) ensemble sensitivity), included as a detector-instrumentation pivot -- the transferable content is ultra-low-noise photon counting and calibration at scale, not spin physics.