Quantum Sensing Group

Overview

Measurement is at the heart of science and engineering, and quantum mechanics sets the fundamental limits on how precisely a measurement can be made. The Quantum Sensing Group works to reach — and sometimes surpass — those limits. We develop sensors based on cold atoms, nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond, and entangled photon pairs, targeting applications where extraordinary sensitivity is required: gravitational wave detection, magnetic field imaging in biological tissue, inertial navigation without GPS, and subsurface geological mapping.

A unifying thread across our work is coherence management — the art of keeping quantum states intact long enough to extract useful information before decoherence destroys the advantage. We develop dynamical decoupling sequences, cryogenic isolation, and materials engineering strategies to extend coherence times, and we design measurement protocols that extract maximum information from a given coherence budget. In parallel, we study the fundamental physics of decoherence in engineered quantum systems, contributing to a broader understanding of the quantum-to-classical boundary.

The group collaborates actively with the Integrated Photonics Lab on chip-scale atomic spectroscopy modules and with the Nonlinear Optics Lab on squeezed-light sources for below-standard-quantum-limit interferometry. Access to the VIAS Cleanroom supports our diamond patterning and NV center implantation work.

Research themes

• Cold-atom interferometers: gravimeters, gradiometers, and gyroscopes
• Nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond: nanoscale magnetometry and thermometry
• Squeezed light and entangled photon pairs for sub-shot-noise sensing
• Chip-integrated atomic clocks and frequency references
• Optomechanical sensors: back-action evasion and force sensing
• Quantum-enhanced Sagnac interferometry for rotation sensing
• Decoherence in engineered quantum systems: mechanisms and control
• Biosensing with NV magnetometry: neural and cardiac magnetic field imaging