Pioneer in nanocrystal science. Sensing-relevant directions: (1) coherent Er spin defects in colloidal nanocrystal hosts as scalable solid-state spin qubit platform (2024 paper with Awschalom); (2) size- and shape-controlled nanocrystal synthesis for mid-IR sensing applications; (3) fundamental scaling laws governing optical properties for sensor design. Founder Nanosys and Quantum Dot Corp.
Pioneer in spintronics and quantum information engineering. Research spans: (1) NV-center spin qubits in diamond for quantum sensing and communication including nanomagnetic imaging; (2) spin defects in SiC and Er-doped hosts for quantum network nodes at telecom wavelengths; (3) molecular and protein-based spin qubits (2025 fluorescent-protein spin qubit, Physics World Top-10); (4) coherent Er spin defects in colloidal nanocrystal hosts (2024, with Alivisatos). Founding Director Chicago Quantum Exchange. Joint Senior Scientist Argonne. Large infrastructure-rich group with strong industry ties (IBM, Intel, Google quantum).
Curry's group works on advanced electronic materials with emphasis on quantum technology applications. Research directions: (1) Single-ion implantation and detection — using P-NAME (Manchester's unique instrument for ion implantation at 20 nm accuracy) to deterministically place single rare-earth ions (Er3+, Pr3+) in photonic substrates for quantum memory and sensing; (2) Er:Si and Er:SiO2 photonics — developing silicon-compatible Er-doped waveguides and cavities emitting at 1.5 µm for quantum network interfaces; (3) Colloidal quantum dots for sensing — photon-number-resolved detection using InAs QDs; (4) Ion beam technologies — SIMS and focused ion beam for quantum material characterization and fabrication. Access to P-NAME facility is unique in UK.
Develops computational methods (DFT + many-body perturbation theory, quantum embedding) to predict properties of spin defects for quantum sensing and computing. Directions: (1) first-principles prediction of coherence properties, zero-phonon lines, and spin-photon coupling for NV, SiC divacancy, Er, and other color center platforms; (2) high-throughput screening of novel spin defect candidates in 2D materials and oxides; (3) quantum embedding methods for strongly correlated defects. Director MICCoM; NAS member; Argonne senior scientist.
Gruetter leads the Laboratory for Functional and Metabolic Imaging (LFMI) at EPFL and co-directs the CIBM (Centre for Biomedical Imaging). Research directions: (1) Ultra-high-field in vivo MR spectroscopy — developing 1H, 13C, 31P, 23Na MRS at 14.1T animal and 7T human systems to measure metabolite concentrations (glutamate, GABA, lactate) in brain with unprecedented sensitivity; (2) Quantum coherence effects in NMR — exploiting J-coupling evolution and JPRESS sequences for quantum-selective metabolite editing; (3) Hyperpolarization — DNP-enhanced metabolite sensing in vivo for tracking metabolic flux in real time; (4) Neuroimaging — quantitative BOLD fMRI calibration and cerebral blood flow mapping. The 14.1T magnet is among the world's most powerful for biological NMR spectroscopy.
Hu pioneers nanofabrication of photonic and electronic devices that couple 'artificial atoms' — semiconductor quantum dots and color-center spin defects (including in silicon carbide) — to nanoscale optical cavities, enabling coherent, efficient photon-spin interfaces for quantum networking and sensing; her emphasis on nanofabrication places this as a borderline, not-preferred case relative to sensitivity-first quantum sensing.
Develops scalable, atomically-precise low-dimensional (2D/1D/0D) materials and heterostructures, focusing on single-photon emitters and spin defects in semiconductors for quantum sensing and molecular-based qubits.
Parigi co-leads the Multimode Quantum Optics group at LKB alongside Treps. Research directions: (1) Multimode squeezed-state quantum networks — generating large-scale entangled cluster states using optical frequency combs; reconfigurable graph-state topologies for measurement-based quantum computing and distributed quantum sensing; (2) Multimode quantum sensing — using multimode squeezed states for simultaneous beyond-shot-noise estimation of multiple parameters (wavelengths, phases) in a spectrometer; (3) Non-Gaussian quantum states — heralded subtraction and addition of photons to Gaussian cluster states for universal CV quantum computation; (4) Quantum networks at telecom — generating multimode squeezed states compatible with fiber transmission. ERC Laureate. Employed by Sorbonne Université.