Ruth Oulton's group works on quantum photonics using solid-state single-photon emitters. Research: (1) semiconductor quantum dot single-photon sources — cavity-enhanced emission, photonic crystal integration; (2) hBN defect spin-photon interfaces; (3) integrated quantum photonics for sensing and quantum networks. The group focuses on device-quality semiconductor photonic systems for quantum information and sensing applications.
Stefano Paesani works on photonic quantum information processing and quantum sensing. Research: (1) silicon quantum photonic integrated circuits for quantum computing and measurement; (2) boson sampling and quantum advantage with photons; (3) quantum sensing using photonic cluster states. Recently joined Lodahl group at NBI as associate professor.
Palomba works on nonlinear nanophotonics and plasmonics: exploiting the extreme field confinement of metallic and hybrid nanostructures to obtain efficient frequency conversion, second- and third-harmonic generation and four-wave mixing in device footprints far smaller than conventional nonlinear optics allows, and integrating these with silicon photonics. The applications the group targets include on-chip nonclassical light generation and nanoscale sensing. 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 plasmonic field-enhancement physics is the same toolkit used to build the nanoantennas that raise photon collection from single NV centres and thereby move single-defect sensing toward the pT/sqrt(Hz) performance of ensembles. Borderline inclusion; the group is device-centred, which cuts against the stated preference.
Studies atomically thin 2D quantum materials and their sensing applications. Directions: (1) tr-ARPES and ultrafast spectroscopy of non-equilibrium electronic dynamics in TMDs and graphene heterostructures; (2) 2D material nanophotonic devices for light sensing and emission; (3) wafer-scale CVD growth of hBN, MoS2, WSe2 for integrated quantum devices; (4) scanning probe characterization of local optical and electronic properties. Key tool: time-resolved photoemission as ultrafast electronic structure sensing.
Parkinson's group uses ultrafast optical spectroscopy to study carrier dynamics in photonic materials with quantum device applications. Research directions: (1) Time-resolved photoluminescence — TRPL with single-photon counting to map exciton lifetimes, diffusion, and defect trapping in GaN, perovskite, and 2D semiconductor quantum wells; (2) Optical single-particle spectroscopy — isolating single nanowires or nanocrystals for defect-free measurements of intrinsic optical properties; (3) Photon-number statistics — Hanbury Brown–Twiss measurements of single-photon purity from quantum dots and localized excitons; (4) Semiconductor quantum sensing interfaces — studying how carrier dynamics affect the fidelity of semiconductor-based quantum sensors and emitters.
Alberto Politi's Quantum nanoPhotonics Lab develops photonic quantum technology platforms for quantum information and sensing. Research: (1) integrated quantum photonic circuits in silicon, glass, and diamond; (2) quantum simulation with integrated photonics; (3) single-photon sources coupled to nanophotonic waveguides (including hBN defect emitters). Part of UK Quantum Technology Hubs.
Unnithan runs a sensor-engineering group spanning plasmonic colour filters and metasurface-based CMOS image and spectral sensors, thermal/hyperspectral cameras, machine learning on sensor data, and — the relevant thread here — the engineering and packaging of quantum diamond magnetometers, in a joint programme with the Melbourne physics groups and Phasor Innovation aimed at navigation, subsurface sensing and eventual healthcare use. He has extensive industry links (Hort-Eye, KDH) and an entrepreneurial orientation. 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 — his role in that collaboration is on the readout, optics and integration side rather than the spin physics, i.e. turning a laboratory pT/sqrt(Hz) NV ensemble into a fielded instrument. Caveat against the stated preference: this group is substantially device-fabrication and product-oriented rather than sensitivity-limited fundamental measurement.
Roberts leads Melbourne's optics group and is a chief investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Transformative Meta-Optical Systems (TMOS). The work is about extracting information that conventional intensity imaging discards: metasurface-encoded point spread functions that recover the full polarisation state or quantitative phase in a single shot, subwavelength structures for edge enhancement and optical computing, and vectorial beam shaping. For a quantum-sensing candidate the relevant hook is that meta-optics is becoming the standard way to miniaturise the optical front end of NV, atomic-vapour and single-molecule sensors, and to add orientational sensitivity to imaging. 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 — her metasurface collection optics and polarisation-resolved detection schemes are being applied to improve photon collection efficiency and orientational discrimination in exactly the NV-ensemble geometries used for pT/sqrt(Hz) magnetometry. Preferred attribute present: orientation-resolved methods that push past standard resolution limits.
Giulia Rubino's research bridges quantum foundations and quantum technologies using integrated photonics. Research: (1) indefinite causal order — experimental demonstration of quantum switch using photonic chips; (2) quantum thermodynamics — fundamental limits of thermodynamic work extraction in quantum systems; (3) quantum information processing with photonic integrated circuits. Appointed Lecturer January 2024.
Sapienza's Integrated Quantum Photonics group studies quantum optics on a chip, developing nanophotonic devices that integrate solid-state single-photon emitters (III-V quantum dots) with photonic crystal and plasmonic cavities, alongside investigations of quantum effects in biomolecules.