Description: Nanoscale magnetic and conductance imaging using a single NV center at the tip of a diamond cantilever; maps magnetic textures and superconducting features with nm spatial resolution.
Atatüre leads the ~30-person QOMS group at the Cavendish. Three main thrusts: (1) Spin-based quantum networks — demonstrating distant entanglement generation and photonic cluster states using semiconductor quantum dots (InGaAs, GaAs) and diamond spin defects (NV, SiV, SnV), including a many-body nuclear-spin quantum register demonstrated in 2025 (Nature Physics); (2) Quantum-enhanced nanoscale sensing — scanning NV diamond magnetometry of emergent magnetism in novel 2D/layered materials and quantum transport in nanocircuits, plus nanodiamond-based in-cell sensing (nanoMRI, thermometry, diffusion in C. elegans); (3) Novel quantum materials — hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) optically-active spin defects at room temperature, and moiré physics in TMD heterostructures. He is co-founder and CSO of Nu Quantum Ltd.
Degen leads the Spin Physics and Imaging group, one of the world's leading NV-center magnetometry labs. Research directions (as of 2025): (1) Scanning NV magnetometry of quantum materials — NV-tipped cantilevers image current flow (≲50 nm resolution) in graphene heterostructures and resolve domain walls in antiferromagnets/ferroelectrics; cryogenic scanning down to 350 mK in dilution refrigerator (published Appl. Phys. Lett. 2022). (2) Single-molecule NMR — shallow NV centers detect nuclear spins from surface-adsorbed molecules with sub-nanometer 3D resolution; 2022 Nano Lett. on amine-functionalized diamond surfaces; exploring chirality-induced spin selectivity at few-molecule level. (3) NV magnetometry protocols — reconstruction-free waveform sensing (1.1 ns time resolution, Nature 2025), gradiometric detection, spectrum demodulation for rapid scanning, multi-NV addressing. (4) Diamond nanoengineering — multicone pillar waveguides, surface engineering, scanning probe fabrication. ERC Proof-of-Concept 2025 for photonic IC single-photon NV excitation/detection for commercial quantum sensing.
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.
Jacques is a pioneer of scanning NV magnetometry, using single nitrogen-vacancy spins in scanning-probe diamond tips to image magnetic textures at the nanoscale under ambient conditions. His team applies this to condensed-matter systems including antiferromagnetic domain walls and chiral spin textures, non-collinear antiferromagnetic order via single-spin relaxometry, and current-driven skyrmion motion in synthetic antiferromagnets, work carried out in close collaboration with materials-physics groups.
Knowles leads the Coherent Quantum Lab at the Cavendish Laboratory. Her research focuses on using NV centers in diamond as quantum sensors to probe matter at the nanoscale in two main thrusts: (1) nanoscale NMR / spin imaging — scanning-probe NV magnetometry of topological and unconventional magnets, Hamiltonian engineering in dense spin ensembles using global dynamical decoupling, and error-correction-enhanced sensor readout; (2) quantum biosensing in living systems — employing diamond nanocrystals functionalized for intracellular delivery to perform simultaneous nanothermometry and nanorheometry in single HeLa cells and C. elegans, using the Q-BiC integrated biocompatible chip platform. She co-leads CANSIS. The lab has a second new instrument running since mid-2025 for biosensing experiments.
Kolkowitz's group builds ultra-precise strontium optical lattice clocks for differential clock comparisons and fundamental-physics tests, and separately pioneered scanning single-NV magnetometry for imaging nanoscale current and spin transport in quantum materials. This combination of atomic-clock and solid-state defect-spin sensing places the group's diamond work squarely alongside the broader NV ensemble sensing literature (DEER, nanoscale NMR, T1 relaxometry) that has achieved pT/sqrt(Hz)-class field sensitivities; the lab is actively recruiting postdocs in both directions.
Toeno van der Sar's group uses NV-centre diamond magnetometry to study correlated spin dynamics and electric currents in magnetic and 2D materials. Research directions: (1) scanning NV magnetometry of topological magnets, 2D magnetic materials (CrI3, Fe3GeTe2), and superconductors; (2) spin-wave (magnon) spectroscopy in magnetic thin films using NV sensors; (3) widefield NV imaging of biological samples and materials. The group develops both NV scanning probes and widefield NV ensembles for nanoscale spatial mapping of magnetic phenomena.
Wrachtrup is a founder of NV-centre quantum sensing: single-spin and ensemble magnetometry, nanoscale/single-molecule NMR and ESR, nuclear-spin registers, scanning-probe quantum-materials imaging, and programmable diamond nanosensors for chemistry and biology. His group actively recruits postdocs across NV sensing and quantum technology. In the broader landscape of NV-centre ensemble quantum sensing (DEER, nano-NMR, T1 relaxometry) operating near pT/sqrt(Hz) sensitivity, this work is the reference point, extending DEER/nano-NMR toward single-molecule and cryogenic regimes.