Ultimate precision in sensing
In the strive to provide better living conditions for an increasing world population, we face the limitations of present manufacturing, agricultural and healthcare systems, leading to excessive environmental impact and economical cost. This is driving the transition towards new paradigms, such as smart industry, precision agriculture and personalized healthcare, where processes and treatments are actively adapted based on accurate, local and real-time data from sensors. Photonic and quantum sensors can provide the ultimate precision required in these applications but are typically complex and expensive. The challenge is to achieve ultimate precision in sensor systems which are also compact and scalable. In order to address it, we combine novel approaches based on photonic and electronic-photonic integration with the investigation of the fundamental limits of sensing, down to the quantum level. We particularly address three areas, namely biomolecular sensing for point-of-care diagnostics, remote sensing of materials and structures, and atomic-scale metrology and imaging.