Basche is one of the founding figures of optical single-molecule spectroscopy. The group performs high-resolution fluorescence-excitation spectroscopy on single dibenzoterrylene (DBT) molecules in anthracene hosts at liquid-helium temperature, where zero-phonon lines approach the Fourier limit -- effectively a solid-state single-photon emitter with atom-like linewidths -- and studies how nanocrystal host engineering (e.g. electrohydrodynamic printing) preserves spectral stability, with polarization-resolved super-resolution imaging used to pin down crystal orientation. Further lines: photon-statistics and blinking in single quantum dots and QD/dye hybrids, and single-molecule studies of singlet fission, where photon-stream analysis of terrylenediimide dimers exposed coherent multiexciton superpositions that ensemble measurements average away. Relative to the established NV-ensemble quantum-sensing playbook (DEER, nanoscale NMR, T1 relaxometry at pT/sqrt(Hz) ensemble sensitivity), this is the molecular analogue of the colour-centre programme -- same photophysics toolkit (HBT, resonance fluorescence, orientation-resolved imaging), different emitter -- and it is the strongest single-emitter optics group in Mainz chemistry. Note: senior/long-established professor; confirm current group status and recruiting before applying.
Grange leads the Optical Nanomaterial Group at ETH, developing nonlinear materials for quantum photonic integrated circuits. Research directions: (1) Barium titanate (BTO) nanophotonics — scalable CMOS-compatible BTO thin-film integrated circuits exploiting large χ(2) nonlinearity for quantum entangled photon-pair generation via SPDC; (2) Lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI) — quantum photonic integrated circuits for heralded single-photon sources and electro-optic transduction; (3) Second-harmonic generation sensing — 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.
Mulvaney directs the ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science and runs Melbourne's nanoscience laboratory. The group's distinctive capability is single-particle and single-emitter optical spectroscopy: photon-antibunching and blinking statistics from individual quantum dots and perovskite nanocrystals, photothermal and dark-field spectroscopy of individual metal nanoparticles, and the electrochemical control of single-nanocrystal charge state. Applications run from LEDs and solar cells to quantum-dot probes for single-particle tracking in cells. Positioned against the established body of NV-ensemble quantum sensing work — DEER, nanoscale NMR and T1 relaxometry protocols operating at pT/sqrt(Hz) field sensitivity — his single-emitter photon-statistics measurements share the shot-noise-limited photon-counting methodology of NV-ensemble ODMR readout, and the group's nanocrystal probes are direct competitors/complements to nanodiamond in cellular sensing. Large, well-resourced group.