Faist is the inventor of the quantum cascade laser (QCL, 1994 at Bell Labs) and leads the Quantum Optoelectronics Group at ETH. Research directions: (1) QCL frequency combs — ring QCLs demonstrate dissipative Kerr solitons in the THz (Science Advances 2023), key for broadband integrated mid-IR spectrometers; (2) Dual-comb spectroscopy — two co-integrated ring QCLs for ultrafast molecular fingerprinting; (3) Quantum cascade detectors — strain-compensated InGaAs/InAlAs QCDs for short-wave mid-IR (<4 µm) sensing; (4) THz strong-coupling — ultrastrongly coupled 2DEG in cavities for quantum photonics; (5) Astrophysical heterodyne receivers — double-metal QCL Josephson mixers. Spin-off: IRsweep (mid-IR dual-comb systems) and Alpes Lasers (QCL commercialisation). FIRST Center head at ETH.
Works on quantum photonics and microwave-to-optical quantum transduction, collaborating on interconnects to link superconducting quantum processors via optical quantum networks.
Faraon's group engineers light-matter interaction at the quantum level in nanophotonic devices, notably rare-earth-ion crystals coupled to nanocavities for optical quantum memories and spin-photon interfaces, and metasurface/meta-optic elements for imaging; work spans quantum networks and nanophotonic sensing. For context, this complements the established paradigm of NV-diamond ensemble magnetometry (Hahn-echo/DEER, nanoscale NMR, T1 relaxometry) operating near pT/√Hz sensitivity.
Synthesizes and characterizes molecular magnets and metal-organic frameworks, using spectroscopy and electronic structure methods to design molecular spin qubits for quantum information science.
Fejer develops engineered nonlinear-optical materials (periodically poled crystals, low-mechanical-loss optical coatings) used to generate squeezed light and to reduce thermal noise in precision interferometers, contributing core technology to the squeezed-light upgrades deployed in Advanced LIGO.
Feldman's group uses scanning NV-diamond magnetometry -- imaging local magnetic fields with a single spin at the tip of a scanning probe -- to visualize currents, magnetism, and correlated-electron order in moire and other quantum materials at the nanoscale, extending the sensitivity/resolution tradeoff of ensemble NV-diamond sensing (DEER/T1 protocols at pT/√Hz) down to single-spin, single-defect imaging.
Igor Ferrier-Barbut (CNRS DR, LCF/IOGS) works on dipolar and Rydberg quantum systems for quantum simulation. Research: (1) dipolar dysprosium (Dy) quantum gases — magnetic dipole-dipole interactions, supersolids, quantum droplets; (2) sub-wavelength structured atomic arrays as quantum simulation platforms; (3) collective light-matter interactions in dense cold-atom ensembles. Jacques Herbrand Grand Prize 2022. ERC Starting Grant (CORSAIR). Works in the Browaeys/Lahaye quantum optics group.
Prof. Figueroa-Feliciano leads Northwestern's experimental program in quantum sensing for particle physics. Key directions: (1) SuperCDMS SNOLAB — Northwestern's NU's role in the Super Cryogenic Dark Matter Search at SNOLAB (2 km underground in Canada), using ultra-pure Si and Ge crystals with superconducting TES sensors to detect low-mass dark matter (particles below the proton mass); in March 2026 the experiment reached operating temperature (<10 mK), transitioning to detector calibration for the first ever dark matter search at the site; (2) NEXUS facility at Fermilab: Northwestern-built test facility led by Figueroa-Feliciano for SuperCDMS detector calibration and for measuring how ionizing radiation affects superconducting qubits (published fall 2025); (3) Qubit-based quantum sensing: developing HVeV R&D devices with <1 eV resolution and qubit parity-detection techniques for eV-scale and sub-eV dark matter detection. Associate Vice President for Research at Northwestern; INQUIRE Executive Committee. Joint appointment at Fermilab.
Flambaum is one of the most cited atomic theorists alive and the intellectual source of a large fraction of the modern precision-AMO new-physics programme. His group computes the atomic and molecular structure factors that convert an experimental frequency shift into a bound on new physics: enhancement factors for electron and nuclear EDMs, atomic parity violation, the sensitivity of clock transitions to variation of the fine-structure constant, and — most relevant to quantum sensing — the response of atomic clocks, magnetometers and comagnetometers to ultralight/axion-like dark matter fields. He proposed much of the theory behind using networks of quantum sensors as dark matter detectors. 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 theory is what tells an experimentalist what a pT/sqrt(Hz) magnetometer or a 10^-18 clock actually constrains: without it, a spin-precession measurement is just a number. Theory group; a sensing postdoc would collaborate rather than join.
Foot leads the Ultracold Quantum Matter group and is one of the two Oxford physics PIs co-leading the AION project at Oxford. His group develops laser-cooled strontium atom sources with the ultranarrow Sr-87 clock transition for large-scale single-photon atom interferometry. Near-term goals include the AION-10, a 10-m baseline vertical atom interferometer currently under construction in the Beecroft Building stairwell, targeting dark matter searches and mid-band gravitational wave detection. Foot's group also studies non-equilibrium 2D quantum gas physics (BKT transition, vortex dynamics) using matter-wave interferometry. AION is linked to MAGIS-100 at Fermilab.