News & Events 2010-2014
Please note: Some of the following content may be in a different language.
19.12.2014
Jonathan Home and his group have demonstrated new methods for engineering quantum states of a trapped-ion mechanical oscillator based on dissipative pumping, where the desired superposition state is produced as the steady state of the pumping. The key element in this work was the introduction of novel spin-motion couplings which allow control of the oscillator in a rotated eigenstate basis.
December 2014
Nicolas Gisin's book is now availabe in the German translation: "Der unbegreifliche Zufall"
external pageSpringer-Verlag, 2014
external pagederStandard.at
external pagePress response: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
21.11.2014
ETH researchers around Tilman Esslinger have implemented in their experimental setup an idea for a new class of materials first proposed by the British physicist Duncan Haldane in 1988. In these systems, a quantized Hall effect appears despite the absence of a magnetic field. The key step for the realization was to place ultracold potassium atoms into a honeycomb lattice created by laser beams and shaken periodically on a circular trajectory.
external pageNature, online publication
ETH life in German in English
04.11.2014
Nicolas Gisin receives the Quantum Communication Award 2014 for his pioneering contributions to the advancement of quantum communications, quantum cryptography, and related technologies.
23.10.2014
The European Academy of Science awarded the Blaise Pascal Medal in Physics to Daniel Loss in n recognition of pioneering contributions to theoretical condensed matter physics, in particular work on spin-dependent and phase-coherent phenomena (‘mesoscopics’) in semiconducting nanostructures and molecular magnets, and application to quantum information processing.
10.10.2014
Exotic states of light and matter: With a combination of solid-state physics and quantum optics,researchers from Atac Imamoglu's group observe new multiparticle states that so far defied a complete theoretical description. The experiments might be the first step towards developing quantum computers based on photons.
26.09.2014
In experiments using the wonder material graphene, ETH researchers around Klaus Ensslin and Anastasia Varlet have been able to demonstrate a phenomenon predicted by a Russian physicist more than 50 years ago. They analysed a layer structure that experts believe may hold unimagined promise.
external pagePhys. Rev. Lett. 113
external pagePhys. Rev. Lett. 113
ETH life in German in English
external pageLABOonline
external pageNanowerk
external pageScienceDaily
external pagePhysOrg
external pagepro-physik
04.09.2014
Nicolas Gisin, has been awarded this year's Marcel Benoist Prize. Federal Councillor Johann N. Schneider-Ammann, the president of the Marcel Benoist Foundation, received Nicolas Gisin in Bern today and congratulated him on winning this prestigious award.
CONGRATULATIONS!
Press release of the State Secretariat for Education Research and Innovation SERI in English
external pageRTS
external pageTribune de Genève
external pagel'Hébdo
external pageNZZ
26.07.2014
In a QSIT collaboration Andreas Nunnenkamp, a postdoc in Christoph Bruder's group in Basel, and several members of Tobias Kippenberg's lab at EPFL have analyzed the reversed dissipation regime of cavity optomechanics in which the mechanical relaxation rate exceeds the decay rate of the electromagnetic cavity. They demonstrate that this to date little explored regime allows for the mechanically induced amplification of the electromagnetic mode. They derive gain, bandwidth, and added noise of the amplifier and propose an experimental scheme enabling quantum-limited amplification.
A. Nunnenkamp, V. Sudhir, A. K. Feofanov, A. Roulet, and T. J. Kippenberg
external pagePhys. Rev. Lett. 113
23.06.2014
Defining and detecting quantum speedup:The development of small-scale quantum devices raises the question of how to fairly assess and detect quantum speedup. Matthias Troyer and his group show how to define and measure quantum speedup, and how to avoid pitfalls that might mask or fake such a speedup.
external pageScience
ETH life: Interview with Matthias Troyer
in English in German
external pageNZZ, online
external pageZeit, online
external pageAargauer Zeitung
18.06.2014
Genetic optimization of photonic crystal cavities: Momchil Minkov and Vincenzo Savona at EPFL developed a fast and effective method for optimizing photonic crystal nanocavities. The method has led to the design of new-generation structures that may advance the future of optical circuits.
external pageEPFL press release
external pageScientific Reports
external pageApplied Physics Letters
13.06.2014
Science Magazine, SRF Swiss radio, with Professor Renato Renner: In online casinos nothing is random
13.04.2014
«Die Lichtteilchen sind auf spukhafte Weise verknüpft» Interview with Renato Renner on espionage and a new method of quantum cryptography to encrypt data.
10.04.2014
Can we protect our secrets against those who wield superior technological powers? Can we trust those who provide us with tools for protection? Renato Renner and Artur Ekert show that some of these questions can be addressed and discussed in precise and operational terms, suggesting that privacy is indeed possible under surprisingly weak assumptions.
external pageNature
external pageBBC interview
external pageredOrbit
28.03.2014
Frederic Merkt is awarded the Otto Bayer Prize 2014 for his outstanding scientific work in the field of molecular spectroscopy. The prize from the Bayer Science & Education Foundation is deemed to be one of the most prestigious and coveted awards for biochemists and chemists in German-speaking regions. Congratulations!
ETH Life in English in German
20.03.2014
Whether or not the D-wave computing machine does in fact use quantum effects is the subject of controversial debate amongst experts. To find answers to these questions, Matthias Troyer, together with colleagues at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles tested the system located there.
external pageNature Physics 10, 218–224 (2014)
external pageNature Physics 10, 179–180 (2014)
ETH Life in English, in German
external pageDeutschlandfunk
Blick am Abend, 11.2.2014, p19
17.02.2014
After the Swiss vote a couple of weeks ago, Dominik Zumbühl was invited to appear in a short contribution regarding EU funding and Horizon 2020 on the Tagesschau 7:30pm of the Swiss TV SRF1, together with Rektor of Uni Basel, Antonio Loprieno.
11.02.2014
Helical electron and nuclear spin order in quantum wires: Physicists from Dominik Zumbühl's group have observed a spontaneous magnetic order of electron and nuclear spins in a quantum wire at temperatures of 0.1 kelvin. In the past, this was possible only at much lower temperatures, typically in the microkelvin range. The coupling of nuclei and electrons creates a new state of matter whereby a nuclear spin order arises at a much higher temperature.
external pagePhys. Rev. Lett. 112, 066801
external pagePhysics World
27.01.2014
NZZ campus has made a video with Lars Steffen about the teleportation experiment. Beam me up!
19.12.2013
Tobias Kippenberg has been awarded the ICO Prize 2013 by the International Commission for Optics for "his innovative and pioneering research on cavity optomechanics and optical frequency combs using optical microresonators." Congratulations!
18.12.2013
The December issue of ETH life magazin features NCCR QSIT research and National Centres of Competence in Research in genaral in several articles.
Excerpts from the magazine can be found in English, in German
06.11.2013
Klaus Ensslin gives a lecture in the frame of 'ETH unterwegs' at the 'Kollegium Spiritus Sanctus', in Brig, VS. The lecture was entitled: Waren Sie schon einmal gleichzeitig an zwei verschiedenen Orten?
31.10.2013
The Quantum Optics group of Tilman Esslinger in close collaboration with theorists from College de France, Ecole Polytechnique, CNRS, University of Geneva and University of Bonn explored for the first time thermoelectric effects in an ultracold Fermi gas.
The setup is in close analogy to a mesoscopic solid state device where two leads prepared at different temperatures are connected to a conducting channel, which generates current from the thermoelectric effect.
The cold atom emulation of a solid state device shines new light on thermoelectricity: comparison between theory and experiments, which are often hard for natural materials due to their high complexity, can now be precisely performed with cold atoms. Even the effects of defects and disorder in materials have been successfully explored in their work, which has been published in the journal Science.
15.10.2013
Kryptografie und Telekommunikation, Schweizer Forschungsschwerpunkt. Interview with Renato Renner.
16.09.2013
Andreas Kuhlmann working in Richard Warburton’s group, in collaboration with Martino Poggio and researchers at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum, has found a way to identify and quantify charge noise and spin noise in a semiconductor quantum device. This understanding has allowed the group to achieve transform-limited quantum dot optical linewidths, required to create indistinguishable single photons. Their work has been published in the journal Nature Physics.
external pageNature Physics 9, 570
external pageNature Physics 9, 538
26.08.2013
First Report of Real-Time Manipulation and Control of Nuclear Spin Noise: Physicists from Martino Poggio's group, in collaboration with researchers at the Eindhoven and Delft Universities of Technology, have demonstrated a new method for polarizing nuclear spins in extremely small samples. The scheme may provide a route for enhancing the sensitivity of nanometer-scale magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or possibly for the implementation of solid-state quantum computers. The researchers have published their work in the journal Nature Physics.
external pageNature Physics doi:10.1038/nphys2731
15.08.2014
ETH-researchers around Andreas Wallraff cannot ”beam“ objects or humans of flesh and blood through space yet, a feat sometimes alluded to in science fiction movies. They managed, however, to teleport information from A to B – for the first time in an electronic circuit, similar to a computer chip.
external pageNature
ETH Life in English, in German
external pageBlick am Abend 14.8.13, p. 9
further coverage in the press
14.08.2013
Andreas Nunnenkamp, a postdoc in Christoph Bruder's group, is part of an international team of researchers identifying signatures of the intrinsic nonlinear interaction between light and mechanical motion in cavity optomechanical systems. These signatures are observable even when the cavity linewidth exceeds the optomechanical coupling rate. They are nonlinear variants of optomechanically induced transparency and should be observable with optomechanical coupling strengths that have already been realized in experiments.
external pagePhys. Rev. Lett. 111, 053603
07.06.2013
Physicists around Matthias Christandl and mathematicians at ETH Zurich show how different forms of "entanglement" can be efficiently and systematically classified into categories. The method should help to fully exploit the potential of novel quantum technologies.
05.06.2013
Approximately 160 children aged 9 to 12 years old attended a special lecture by Klaus Ensslin in the large physics auditorium on the Hönggerberg. On the basis of many experiments the children were led through the world of mechanics. In the extended break the kids had plenty of time to try out some of these experiments themselves. The kids seized the opportunity with enthusiasm.
24.05.2013
A quantum simulator for magnetic materials: Physicists around Tilman Esslinger have developed a quantum simulator that allows arranging atoms in a way that they mimic the behaviour of electrons in magnetic materials. The experiment opens up the possibility of systematically studying poorly understood properties of novel materials. The fresh insights might lead to designs for new magnetic materials.
ETH Life
external pageScience
external pageScinexx
external pagePhysics world
external pageThe Huffington Post
07.05.2013
Klaus Ensslin was invited to give a Lunch talk at the ABB Research Center in Baden, Switzerland. He took the opportunity to excite his audience of 90 industry researchers about turning quantum science into technology.
18.04.2013
Physicists around Andreas Wallraff have developed a method for precisely controlling quantum systems by exploiting a trick that helps cats to land on their feet and motorists to fit their cars into parking spots. In the longer run, the method could lead to the development of more reliable quantum computers.
ETH Life in English, in German
external pageNature
02.04.2013
Researchers around Anna Fontcuberta i Morral have built solar cells from individual nanowires, and showed that the nanowires absorbed far more light than expected based on their size. This unusual optical properties of nanowires could lead to cheaper, more efficient solar panels.
external pageNature Photonics
external pageMIT Technology Review
08.03.2013
The artcle "Transport in a three-terminal graphene quantum dot in the multi-level regime", published 2012 in New Journal of Physics (NJP) by Arnhild Jacobsen et al. has been selected for inclusion in the exclusive 'Highlights of 2012' collection.
Articles were chosen on the basis of referee endorsement, impact and broad appeal to collectively showcase the quality and diversity of NJP's broad coverage last year.
external pageNew Journal of Physics
external pageHighlights of 2012
05.03.2013
Quantenzirkus mit Licht und Atomen (mit Tilman Esslinger).
18.02.2013
Anna Fontcuberta i Morral and Richard Warburton have reported in Nature Materials the discovery of a new quantum-dot-in-nanowire system with remarkable quantum photonics properties.
January 2013
Researchers around Tobias Kippenberg at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), as well as from the Walther-Meissner-Institute (WMI), the Technische Universität München (TUM) and the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics (MPQ) have introduced a radically different approach to control the propagation of microwave signals by using the electromechanical interaction of a vibrating silicon nitride nanostring. They are thus able to dynamically switch, slow down, and accelerate the propagation of microwave pulses.
28.01.2013
ETH Zurich is involved in the “Graphene Flagship” project through Klaus Ensslin. ETH Life spoke to him about the advantages of graphene and his personal vision of this very special material.
16.01.2013
The Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering and Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering at ETH hosted 70 female highschool students interested in math and science. Vanessa Wood's presentation was a great inspiration for the girls and the lab tours co-organized by QSIT PhD students were highly appreciated.
external pageTagesanzeiger
external pageRadio DRS 1
16.+ 23.12.2012
The blog external page2Physics.com cites research by external pageNicolas Gisin's group and external pageAtac Imamoglu's group.
16.11.2012
Milestone in quantum communication: Researchers led by Atac Imamoglu, professor of Quantum Photonics, have succeeded for the first time, to observe entanglement between a quantum dot spin and a single photon in a semiconductor system. This is an important step on the way to a new form of telecommunication, which is based on quantum physics.
28.10.2012
Researchers look beyond space and time to cope with quantum theory
Physicists around Nicolas Gisin have proposed an experiment that could force us to make a choice between an extreme and the unknown to describe the behavior of the Universe.
The proposal comes from an international team of researchers from Switzerland, Belgium, Spain and Singapore, and is published today in Nature Physics. It is based on what the researchers call a ‘hidden influence inequality’. This exposes how quantum predictions challenge our best understanding about the nature of space and time, Einstein’s theory of relativity.
external pageNature Physics
Press release from the University of Geneva Downloadin French (PDF, 205 KB), Downloadin English (PDF, 69 KB) (translation)
external page(e) Science news
23.10.2012
Even quantum fail of the millionnaire's problem
ETH Zurich researchers around Matthias Christandl have shown that in processes such as on-line auctions there is no absolutely secure communication. Not even with the help of the sophisticated means of quantum physics. This leads to the answer to an old question which way their discipline should embark in the future.
29.08.2012
Unerwartete Kühleffekte rücken Quantencomputer näher:
Das Team um Dominik Zumbühl von der Universität Basel hat in Zusammenarbeit mit dem IBM-Forschungslabor in Rüschlikon beobachtet, dass in Nanostrukturen bei sehr tiefen Temperaturen ein bislang etabliertes Naturgesetz verletzt wird. Diese Entdeckung könnte wichtige Konsequenzen für den Bau eines Quantencomputers haben.
external pageTele Basel News
external pagePhys. Rev. Lett. 109, 086601
external pageRev. Sci. Instr. 83, 083903
24.08.2012
Nicolas Gisin has written a book on "L'impensable Hasard, non-localité, téléportation et autres merveilles quantiques".
20.08.2012
Christian Degen was awarded an ERC starting grant for his project entitled «NANOMRI - Three-dimensional Magnetic Resonance Imaging at Molecular Resolution» The aim of the ERC project is to promote the combination of magnetic resonance imaging and atomic force microscopy. A new microscope that could represent complex biological objects such as single viruses or large protein molecules directly and in three dimensions, would open up entirely new opportunities in medicine and structural biology.
ETH Life
20.08.2012
Ultrafast all-optical switching by single photons: Researchers from the group of Atac Imamoglu at ETH Zurich have succeeded in developing a precursor of an optical transistors which can be controlled by a single particle of light.
ETH Life
external pageNature Photonics
13.08.2012
Physicists at IBM Research - Zurich and ETH Zurich have made a breakthrough in the investigation of electron spin for future memory and logic applications. In specially designed samples grown by Christian Reichl and Werner Wegscheider at ETH Zurich, Matthias Walser and Gian Salis at IBM were the first to synchronize the dynamics of electron spins and image the formation of a persistent spin helix. These new findings help to selectively control and manipulate electron spins in electronic devices. Spintronics could enable a new class of magnetic-based semiconductor transistors resulting in more energy efficient electronic devices.
IBM Research - Zurich press release external pagein English, external pagein German
external pageNature Physics
06.08.2012
Dominik Zumbühl at TeleBasel, News: Kälte-Sensation: Basler Physiker haben einen Kühlschrank entwickelt, der Rekorde bricht.
29.07. - 03.08.2012
ICPS 2012 in the media:
ETH Life
external pageSonntagszeitung
ETH Life
external pageNZZ
02.05.2012
Daniel Loss, Dominik Zumbühl at Tele Basel report: Das Quantengenie
15.03.2012
Cold atoms simulate graphene: Scientists in Tilman Esslinger's group used a set of laser beams to create a honeycomb-like structure similar to that found in graphene. By loading ultracold atoms into this optical lattice, they can simulate electronic properties of this promising material. Such experiments may be used to identify electronic properties of materials which have yet to be discovered.
external pageNature
ETH press release
ETH Life in English, in German
external pageScience Daily
external pageWissenschaft aktuell
DownloadNZZ (PDF, 137 KB)
external pagePro-physik.de
DownloadSt. Galler Tagblatt (PDF, 146 KB)
external pagePhysics world
07.03.2012
Patrick Maletinsky's start as Professor at the University of Basel was covered in the Scchaffhauser Nachrichten.
05.03.2012
A team of researchers lead by Nicolas Gisin and Mikael Afzelius at the University of Geneva are developing a new approach to bring quantum networks to reality, and their latest finding has just been published in Nature Photonics.
external pageNature Photonics
Communiqué de presse de l'Université de Genève, external pageen français, Downloadin English (PDF, 3.6 MB) (translation)
Interview avec Nicolas Gisin à la radio TSR Impatience, en français
12.02.2012
LICHT AUS FÜR HACKER
Schweizer Forscher verbessern die Verschlüsselung von Geheimdaten
02.02.2012
Tobias Kippenberg and his group have presented a microscopic system in which light can be converted into a mechanical oscillation and back.
Mit der Kraft des Lichts: Quantenkontrolle eines mikromechanischen Oszillators
25.01.2012
Quantenkryptographie «wieder» sicher machen: Renato Renner and Nicolas Gisin together with their groups search to reassure security in quantum cryptography.
15.12.2011
Eliminating errors in quantum computing
Quantum computers, should they be realized one day, will inevitably make errors. Therefore, they need special error correcting mechanisms. The most important part of it, a so-called Toffoli gate, has now been realized with superconducting circuits by ETH scientists from Andreas Wallraff's group.
ETH Life in English, in German
external pageNature
23.11.2011
Lecture at the Senioren Universität bei Klaus Ensslin.
Quantenmechanik und Informationsverarbeitung: Waren Sie schon einmal gleichzeitig an zwei Orten?
About the Senioren Uni see also: external pageZürichTV.ch
27.10.2011
'Einstein' - the popular science magazine of Swiss national television reported on Cryptography and Quantum Cryptography.
external pageWatch the clip (from minute 4.56 onwards)
September 2011
Andreas Wallraff: Mit Quantensprüngen zum Erfolg
August 2011
Was ist Quantenphysik: Céline interviewt Klaus Ensslin
Was ist Theoretische Physik: Cèline interviewt Johann Blatter
26.08.2011
Der Bund: Computerspiel soll Mädchen für Naturwissenschaften begeistern. external pageonline
26.08. - 28.08.2011
NCCR QSIT at the 'Scientifica'
- Wohin führt die Miniaturisierung? external pagemehr
- Wer sind die Forschenden der Zukunft? external pagemehr
Interview with Klaus Ensslin at Radio 1: the interview
12.08.2011
Quanteninformationen dauerhaft speichern
04.08.2011
«Amazing opportunities» Interview with Vanessa Wood.
ETH Life in English, in German
26.07.2011
"Unvorstellbar klein und schnell"
DownloadFrankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Sonderbeilage (PDF, 468 KB)
21.07.2011
Quanteninformationen dauerhaft speichern: Atac Imamoglu und Renato Renner gingen anhand von numerischen Modellen und theoretischen Analysen der Frage nach, ob es einen Langzeitspeicher für Quanteninformationen überhaupt geben kann.
ETH Life in English, in German
external pagenanowerk
external pagePhys. Rev. Lett. 107, 030504
28.06.2011
Auf dem Weg zum Schweizer Supercomputer: Der ETH-Physiker Andreas Wallraff entwickelt Mikrochips, die tausendmal energieeffizienter sind als herkömmliche Computer.
23.06.2011
Andreas Wallraff receives the Max Rössler-Preis-2011. He earns the price allocated with 200'000 CHF for his outstanding research at the interface of quantum physics and information technology.
ETH press release
external pageidw
external pageBlick am Abend, p 11
ETH Life
03.06.2011
Susanne Dröscher in 20min: Mädchen, ran an die Technik!
01.06.2011
Quantum knowledge cools computers: Whether data is processed or deleted in computers, both consume energy. The energy is released as heat. A study has now shown that the heat forming can be avoided, and, in an extreme case, cold can be created – a glimmer of hope for supercomputer centres.This is confirmed by a study led by ETH Zurich Professor Renato Renner together with Vlatko Vedral of the National University of Singapore and published today in “Nature”.
ETH Life in English, in German
external pageNature
external pageNature-Podcast: Interview with Lidia del Rio (from min 14.30 onwards)
external page20min
external pageTagesanzeiger
May 2011
Each year L'Hebdo, a well-known magazine in Switzerland, chooses the 100 most prominent people in the French part of Switzerland, the “Forum des 100”. In the 2011 edition of the Forum, Nicolas Gisin was selected for his contributions to the physics of entanglement.
DownloadRead more (PDF, 6.2 MB) , p. 36
May 2011
Report on the start of the NCCR QSIT
DownloadSPS (PDF, 2.2 MB), p. 39
18.05.2011
The D-Phys awards to Clemens Rössler the prize for the most innovative experimental contribution to the Advanced Physics Laboratory 2011 for the "Student Cleanroom Laboratory".
March 2011
The Swiss Physical Society reports on the start of the NCCR QSIT
March 2011
Quanten sind nicht alles
03.02.2011
Interview with Klaus Ensslin: 'Die Zukunftsmusik der Quantenforschung'
ETH Life in English, in German
external pagenanowerk
14.01.2011
Patrick Maletinsky receives the Prix Schläfli at the first General Meeting of the NCCR QSIT in Arosa.
20.12.2010
The validation of cold atoms as quantum simulators, in which the group of Matthias Troyer participated, and the measurement of the phase diagram of the Dicke Quantum Phase transition by the group of Tilman Esslinger were listed by the Magazine SCIENCE under " Science Breakthroughs of the Year".
20.12.2010
Medienmitteilung der Universität Basel: Ko-Leitung im «NFS Quantenwissenschaft und -technologie» external pagelink
29.11.2010
This year's Ruzicka price goes to Prof. Stefan Willitsch from the Departement of Chemistry at the University of Basel.