Liu's group sits at the junction of DNA nanotechnology and nanophotonics: DNA-origami-templated plasmonic assemblies, reconfigurable artificial nanomachines whose motion is read out optically (chiral plasmonics, FRET), and, increasingly, synthetic-cell systems -- DNA-based pores and a programmable DNA-origami nanosyringe for directed membrane translocation, the latter published jointly with Nussberger's biophysics group at Stuttgart. The through-line is building nanoscale machines that both actuate and report. Relative to the established NV-ensemble quantum-sensing playbook (DEER, nanoscale NMR, T1 relaxometry at pT/sqrt(Hz) ensemble sensitivity), the relevance is on the biosensing axis: this is the group that can put a nanoscale probe exactly where you want it on or through a membrane, which is the delivery problem that in-cell quantum sensing keeps running into. Preferred-attribute note: nanofabrication is heavily used, but the emphasis is on single-molecule optical readout rather than device manufacture per se.
Maier's group works on nanophotonics and plasmonics, including metasurfaces, 2D-material photonics and plasmon-enhanced sensing, exploiting sub-wavelength light confinement for sensing and light-matter interaction applications.
McCamey is, for a candidate coming from NV ensemble sensing, the single most methodologically adjacent PI at UNSW. His laboratory does optically and electrically detected magnetic resonance on spins that are not defects in diamond: photogenerated spin-correlated radical pairs, triplet excitons in organic semiconductors, singlet-fission intermediates, and molecular spin systems. The instrumentation is the same toolkit — pulsed EPR, ODMR, dynamical decoupling, relaxometry — applied to systems where the spin is created by light and reports on chemistry. He directs the UNSW node of ARC Exciton Science. 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 group runs precisely those pulse sequences (Hahn echo, DEER, relaxometry) on a different spin species, and radical-pair spin chemistry is one of the few plausible mechanisms by which biology could be genuinely quantum — which makes this a strong landing spot for someone wanting to keep the NV skill set but change the physical system. Preferred attributes present: sensitivity-limited spin measurement, quantum-biology relevance.
Metivier (PPSM) studies photochromic and fluorescent molecules at the single-molecule level - photoswitching kinetics, energy transfer and orientation-resolved imaging - underpinning super-resolution (RESOLFT/STORM-type) probes and molecular sensors. In the broader landscape of NV-centre ensemble quantum sensing (DEER, nano-NMR, T1 relaxometry) operating near pT/sqrt(Hz) sensitivity, this work is paralleled by molecular photoswitches enabling optical super-resolution.
Nobel laureate W. E. Moerner, who first detected and studied single molecules optically, now develops engineered point-spread-function and orientation-resolved single-molecule localization microscopy methods to track individual biomolecules and their rotational dynamics in cells with nanometer precision, well beyond the optical diffraction limit.
Mulvaney directs the ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science and runs Melbourne's nanoscience laboratory. The group's distinctive capability is single-particle and single-emitter optical spectroscopy: photon-antibunching and blinking statistics from individual quantum dots and perovskite nanocrystals, photothermal and dark-field spectroscopy of individual metal nanoparticles, and the electrochemical control of single-nanocrystal charge state. Applications run from LEDs and solar cells to quantum-dot probes for single-particle tracking in cells. 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 single-emitter photon-statistics measurements share the shot-noise-limited photon-counting methodology of NV-ensemble ODMR readout, and the group's nanocrystal probes are direct competitors/complements to nanodiamond in cellular sensing. Large, well-resourced group.
Murray develops mid-infrared photonic sources and detectors and combines mid-IR spectroscopy with mass-spectrometry imaging to provide complementary optical and biochemical maps of tissue for biomedical sensing.
Olaya-Castro leads theoretical research on quantum phenomena in biological systems. Research directions: (1) Quantum coherence in photosynthesis — open quantum systems theory for energy transfer in light-harvesting complexes, probing whether quantum coherence provides functional advantage; vibronic coupling models for chromophore-protein complexes; (2) Counting statistics and noise in exciton and charge transfer; (3) Quantum thermodynamics of biomolecular machines — efficiency limits and entropy production in molecular motors; (4) Non-classical features of electronic/vibrational dynamics in chromophores; (5) Connections between quantum information measures and biological function. Collaborates with Bain and Llorente-Garcia on joint experiment/theory biosensing projects. Theoretical work only — no experimental activity.
Palpant (current LuMIn director) studies ultrafast optical response and thermoplasmonics of metal nanoparticles - photothermal nanoscale heat sources and sensors for photonics and biomedicine. Primary appointment CentraleSupelec; based at the ENS Paris-Saclay LuMIn site. In the broader landscape of NV-centre ensemble quantum sensing (DEER, nano-NMR, T1 relaxometry) operating near pT/sqrt(Hz) sensitivity, this work is adjacent through plasmonic photothermal transduction and 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.