Summary: UChicago anchors the Chicago Quantum Exchange (CQE) — the US's most concentrated quantum ecosystem, partnering Argonne, Fermilab, JPL, and multiple Chicago-area universities. The Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) hosts world-class quantum sensing groups: Bhave (levitated optomechanics, quantum-limited force sensing); Bhave/Schuster (superconducting qubit sensing); Bhave/Bhave connections across mechanical and electromagnetic sensing. The Department of Physics hosts Gregor Engel's group on quantum coherence in biology. The James Franck Institute bridges physics and chemistry for quantum optical sensing. Argonne's Advanced Photon Source and Fermilab's quantum sensing programs are accessible to UChicago postdocs via joint appointments.
Notes: Top private R1; strong quantum ecosystem via Chicago Quantum Exchange. PME, Physics, Chemistry, and A&A all active. Partner institutions include Argonne and Fermilab.
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.
Anderson's group designs molecular electron-spin qubit candidates -- including an air- and water-stable tetrathiafulvalene-bridged radical with spin centered on a nuclear-spin-free ligand -- that retain hundreds of nanoseconds of coherence in solution at room temperature, aiming toward solution-phase quantum sensing in biological environments. This complements solid-state NV-ensemble sensors, which use DEER, NMR, and T1-relaxometry protocols to reach pT/sqrt(Hz)-class magnetic sensitivity, by pursuing a chemically tunable molecular alternative that could operate directly in biological media.
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).
Bean's group designed, built, and operates MAROON-X, a fiber-fed, high-dispersion precision radial-velocity spectrograph on the 8m Gemini-North telescope, achieving sub-m/s-class radial-velocity precision to detect and mass-characterize small planets around nearby M dwarfs and to identify/refine targets for JWST atmospheric spectroscopy. This is an astronomy pivot from quantum sensing in the sense the filter intends: a purpose-built, cutting-edge-sensitivity spectrograph (rather than a quantum sensor per se) enabling detection at the edge of instrumental precision.
Develops cryogenic detector technology for CMB experiments. Directions: (1) TES bolometer array design and fabrication for SPT-3G and CMB-S4; (2) MKID detector development as alternative to TES for next-generation CMB focal planes; (3) low-noise SQUID multiplexed readout for large-format arrays; (4) SPT-3G science: CMB lensing, cluster SZ, B-mode polarization. Argonne joint appointment.
Experimental cosmologist building and operating CMB telescopes. Directions: (1) South Pole Telescope — PI of SPT series; SPT-3G currently mapping CMB temperature and polarization at arcminute resolution; (2) thermal and kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect mapping for galaxy cluster cosmology; (3) CMB gravitational lensing for large-scale structure; (4) CMB-S4 design and planning. Argonne joint appointment. APS and AAAS Fellow.
Develops superconducting detector and readout systems for CMB observations. Directions: (1) SQUID-multiplexed readout architecture for large TES bolometer arrays (SPT-3G, CMB-S4); (2) transition-edge sensor bolometer fabrication and characterization; (3) MKID detector development; (4) CMB-S4 instrument design. Argonne joint appointment. Deep expertise in quantum-limited cryogenic detector readout.
Experimental AMO physicist using ultracold atoms and optical lattices for quantum simulation and sensing. Directions: (1) Efimov and few-body physics in ultracold Cs and Cs-Li mixtures; (2) quantum phase transitions and strongly correlated quantum matter in optical lattices; (3) optical tweezer arrays for single-atom and single-molecule quantum simulation. Develops novel imaging techniques for in-situ atomic density measurements.
Develops quantum metrology for ultra-weakly-coupled dark sectors and fundamental physics. Directions: (1) axion dark matter detection using entangled probe state preparation and superconducting qubit QND readout (HAYSTAC, ADMX); (2) dark radiation/energy detection with Cooper-pair box quasiparticle sensors; (3) GW detectors based on high-B-field microwave cavities probing early-universe phase transitions; (4) emergent gauge symmetries in quantum spin liquids. Co-PI DARPA QuSeN (quantum sensing of neutrinos, 2025). Devices/Sensors lead, DOE Quantum Science Center.
Specializes in quantum information and hybrid quantum systems. Directions: (1) superconducting qubit quantum computing and error correction; (2) hybrid quantum systems coupling superconducting qubits to mechanical resonators, spin systems, and optical photons; (3) quantum-limited microwave amplification; (4) co-PI DARPA QuSeN — quantum sensing of neutrinos via phonon-coupled SC qubit sensors (2025). Director Pritzker Nanofabrication Facility (PNF). AAAS and APS Fellow.