Aurèle Adam develops THz near-field imaging and spectroscopy. Research: (1) apertureless scattering-type near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) at THz frequencies for nanometre spatial resolution imaging of material properties; (2) THz time-domain spectroscopy of quantum materials and condensed matter systems; (3) antenna-coupled detectors and sources for THz near-field imaging. Relevant to quantum material characterisation at the nanoscale.
Hibberd holds an EPSRC Ernest Rutherford Fellowship at Manchester's PSI. Research directions: (1) Ultrafast THz spectroscopy of magnetic materials — probing spin dynamics, magnon modes, and phase transitions in correlated magnetic materials with sub-ps time resolution using intense THz pulses; (2) THz-driven spintronics — using THz electric and magnetic fields to switch magnetization and induce spin currents; (3) THz generation from spintronic heterostructures — using ultrafast spin-charge conversion as a broadband THz emitter for materials characterization; (4) Quantum magnonics — studying collective spin excitations (magnons) as quantum sensors of materials order parameters. Bridges ultrafast optics and quantum sensing of magnetic phases.
Kuhlmey works on structured electromagnetic materials across an unusually wide frequency range: microstructured optical fibres, metamaterials, non-reciprocal and time-varying media, and — the newest and most sensing-relevant thread — quantum terahertz photonics, in collaboration with ENS Paris and CSIRO. The THz programme is explicitly aimed at single-photon/single-electron coupling in the THz band, which if it works would allow quantum devices to operate at a few kelvin rather than millikelvin. The group runs a THz time-domain spectroscopy lab with cryogenic capability. 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 — the THz band is the one part of the spectrum where neither superconducting circuits nor NV ensembles currently offer quantum-limited detection, so this is a genuine gap-filling programme rather than a variation on existing pT/sqrt(Hz) approaches.