Combining the flexibility of molecular chemistry with the most advanced nanophotonic techniques is the challenge behind the QUINTESSENCE (Quantum Interfaces with Single Molecules) project which was awarded 2 million euro by the European Research Council.
The proposal, submitted by Costanza Toninelli – a senior researcher at the National Research Council’s National Institute of Optics (CNR-INO) – is one of the winners of the prestigious 2022 Consolidator Grants, which were announced recently.
“Thanks to the development of interfaces based on single molecules, we will be able to study quantum effects in still unexplored regimes and create fundamental resources in the field of quantum technologies,” the researcher explained, and added: “In the context of quantum communications, for example, we aim at the development of emitters for multi-photon experiments. But our studies could also stimulate a new generation of quantum temperature sensors with unprecedented sensitivity under extreme conditions”.
Costanza Toninelli, who leads a multidisciplinary group of researchers from CNR-INO and the Ugo Schiff Department of Chemistry of the University of Florence, is among the emerging talents in quantum photonics at the international level. A protagonist in the main European networks such as QuantERA and Quantum Flagship, she carries out her activity in collaboration with the European Laboratory for Non-linear Spectroscopy (LENS) and the Physics and Astronomy Department of the University of Florence. QUINTESSENCE is one of the 21 projects awarded 2022 Consolidator Grants that will be carried out in Italy.
