Develops quantum sensors based on neutral atoms and solid-state atom-like defects (e.g. NV diamond) for measuring inertial forces, magnetic fields, and time, and applies nanophotonics/nanofabrication to improve the size, weight, and performance of quantum sensing instruments; collaborates with Mikhail Kats on metasurface-enhanced atomic magnetometers.

The de Leon lab engineers nitrogen-vacancy and other color centers in diamond and wide-bandgap materials as solid-state quantum sensors and qubits, spanning materials growth and surface chemistry, nanophotonic integration, and magnetic-field/thermal sensing of quantum materials, alongside a parallel effort on superconducting qubit noise and loss. This builds on the broader tradition of ensemble NV magnetometry (DEER, NMR, T1 relaxometry) that has reached pT/sqrt(Hz)-class sensitivities, which de Leon's group extends toward single- and few-spin scanning-probe magnetometry of correlated electron materials.

Hemmer pioneered NV-diamond spin sensing and super-resolution with spin defects, working on coherent control, photonic integration of NV sensors, and diamond-based magnetometry/imaging bridging physics and engineering. In the broader landscape of NV-centre ensemble quantum sensing (DEER, nano-NMR, T1 relaxometry) operating near pT/sqrt(Hz) sensitivity, this work is directly in the NV ensemble sensing lineage, emphasizing photonic integration and super-resolution readout.

Lončar's Laboratory for Nanoscale Optics engineers diamond and lithium-niobate nanophotonic devices — including silicon-vacancy (SiV) color-center spin-photon interfaces, entangled quantum memories, and remote entanglement-assisted phase-sensing protocols that beat the standard measurement limit — alongside quantum optomechanical control of single spins via engineered acoustic resonators, directly extending the NV/SiV-diamond quantum-sensing lineage toward chip-integrated, networked quantum-enhanced sensing.

Park's group works at the interface of physics, chemistry, and neuroscience, developing nanowire- and nanoelectrode-based intracellular electrophysiology probes as well as NV-diamond quantum sensing platforms (often in collaboration with Lukin), building on the same NV ensemble quantum-sensing lineage (DEER, nanoscale NMR, T1 relaxometry, pT/√Hz sensitivity) while also pushing nanoscale bioelectronic recording.

Unnithan runs a sensor-engineering group spanning plasmonic colour filters and metasurface-based CMOS image and spectral sensors, thermal/hyperspectral cameras, machine learning on sensor data, and — the relevant thread here — the engineering and packaging of quantum diamond magnetometers, in a joint programme with the Melbourne physics groups and Phasor Innovation aimed at navigation, subsurface sensing and eventual healthcare use. He has extensive industry links (Hort-Eye, KDH) and an entrepreneurial orientation. 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 role in that collaboration is on the readout, optics and integration side rather than the spin physics, i.e. turning a laboratory pT/sqrt(Hz) NV ensemble into a fielded instrument. Caveat against the stated preference: this group is substantially device-fabrication and product-oriented rather than sensitivity-limited fundamental measurement.