Zheng develops in-situ liquid-cell transmission electron microscopy to directly observe nanocrystal nucleation, growth, and chemical transformation in solution with nanometer spatial and sub-second temporal resolution, capturing dynamic processes invisible to static microscopy.

Develops rare-earth-ion-doped crystal platforms for quantum internet hardware. Directions: (1) Er3+-doped crystal quantum memories with >1 ms coherence time in nanophotonic waveguides; (2) microwave-to-optical quantum transduction using Er spins coupled to superconducting resonators; (3) photon-number-resolving detectors for quantum communication; (4) integrated rare-earth nanophotonic circuits on thin-film LiNbO3. Key goal: scalable room-temperature-compatible quantum repeater nodes.

Zubairy is a quantum-optics theorist working on quantum imaging beyond the diffraction limit, quantum-coherence-based sensing, entanglement distribution and quantum information protocols. In the broader landscape of NV-centre ensemble quantum sensing (DEER, nano-NMR, T1 relaxometry) operating near pT/sqrt(Hz) sensitivity, this work frames the theoretical limits that spin-ensemble sensors approach.