Thibaud Ruelle in Ventura
Ph.D. student Thibaud Ruelle traveled to Ventura, California to attend the the Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on “Mechanical Systems in the Quantum Regime” from the 25th to March 2nd. The meeting brought together scientists from the areas precision sensing, metrology, quantum information processing, transduction, and fundamental physics. Participants discussed the most recent experimental and theoretical advances in mechanical systems in the quantum regime. Just as the techniques of quantum optics revolutionized the control and measurement of light, the rise of quantum acoustics now promises novel approaches to measurement science and the study of quantum physics. Thibaud presented a poster on our work coupling nanomechanical elements to a high-finesse optical cavity.
Andrea Mehlin Takes a New Job
Dr. Andrea Mehlin, who earned her Ph.D. in our group in June 2017, and has since been working as a post-doctoral researcher in the group, is starting a new job in mid-March. Andrea will be working in the research division of Innovative Sensor Technology (IST) AG in Ebnat-Kappel, Switzerland. IST AG is a leading manufacturer of physical, chemical, and biological sensors. They specializes in the development and manufacturing of temperature sensors, thermal mass flow sensors, capacitive humidity sensors, conductivity sensors, and biosensors. In addition to development and manufacturing of standard sensors, they also offer consulting and R&D tailored to specific customer requests in the field of sensor technology.
Since her first days in the lab as a Master project student, Andrea has been a crucial member of our group. She will be sorely missed. We wish her the best in her future pursuits!
Group at École de Physique des Houches

From the 11th to the 16th, members of the group attended the joint workshop Spin mechanics-5 and nanoMRI-6 at the École de Physique des Houches in Chamonix, France. The meeting brought together an interdisciplinary community of scientists focusing on a variety of topics including, nanometer-scale magnetic resonance imaging, hybrid spin mechanical systems, spintronics, optomechanics, ultrasensitive force sensing, and magnonics.
Ph.D student Nicola Rossi, post-docs Dr. Boris Groß and Dr. Floris Braakman, and Prof. Poggio attended the week-long meeting and made presentations. Nicola presented a poster entitled, “Magnetic sensing with a self-assembled nanowire”, Floris a poster entitled, “Coherent force microscopy using a nanowire mechanical resonator”, and Boris a poster entitled, “Néel-type skyrmions in multiferroic lacunar spinels – mapping out a stability phase diagram using dynamic cantilever magnetometry”. Prof. Poggio gave an invited talk entitled, “Nanomechanics and nanomagnetism” summarizing our group’s recent work.
Annual QSIT Meeting in Arosa
From the 5th to the 9th, members of the group attended the 7th NCCR QSIT Winter School & 8th NCCR QSIT General Meeting in Arosa, Switzerland. Ph.D students Simon Philipp, Giulio Romagnoli, and David Jaeger attended both the school and the meeting, while Ph.D. student Lorenzo Ceccarelli, post-doc Dr. Floris Braakman, and Prof. Poggio attended the meeting. Simon, David, and Floris presented posters on their work and Prof. Poggio gave a talk on the 9th entitled, “Scanning probe microscopy with Quantum Sensors”. A special thanks to Ilona Blatter for organizing an excellent meeting.
Group members at ‘Advances in Magnetics’
From the 4th to the 7th, Ph.D. student Marcus Wyss and post-doc Dr. Boris Groß attended the Advances in Magnetics (AIM) conference organized by the IEEE in La Thuile, Italy. Marcus gave a talk on the 6th entitled, “Imaging the magnetic stray field of an artificial chiral spin ice system” and Boris gave a talk on the 7th entitled, “Néel-type skyrmions in multiferroic lacunar spinels – Mapping out a stability phase diagram using dynamic cantilever magnetometry”.