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.
Bowen leads the CQSE 'Spins and Qubits' theme at Manchester, focusing on organometallic molecular spin qubits for quantum sensing and computing. Research directions: (1) Organometallic La(II) and other rare-earth molecular qudits — designing molecules with multiple accessible spin states (qudits) for encoding quantum information and sensing; (2) Pulsed EPR characterization — Hahn echo, ESEEM, ENDOR at X/W/Q-band to measure coherence times and hyperfine couplings; (3) Integration of molecular qubits into devices — surface deposition and nanoscale addressing; (4) Multi-spin sensing — using exchange-coupled spin pairs as differential sensors of magnetic field gradients. Closely collaborates with Tuna and Winpenny.
Hoffman develops and applies electron-nuclear double resonance (ENDOR) spectroscopy -- a combination of EPR and NMR -- to resolve individual hyperfine-coupled nuclei at metalloenzyme active sites with atomic-scale precision, work that has revealed mechanisms of nitrogenase nitrogen fixation, radical-SAM enzyme catalysis, and copper/methane monooxygenase chemistry. The technique pushes magnetic-resonance spectroscopic resolution well past what conventional EPR can resolve, in a manner methodologically continuous with molecular spin-qubit sensing.
McInnes leads the National EPR Facility at Manchester (Europe's broadest EPR suite) and researches molecular spin qubits. Research directions: (1) Pulsed EPR spectroscopy of molecular spin systems — Hahn echo, ESEEM, ENDOR, DEER for structural and electronic characterization of inorganic and organometallic complexes; (2) Molecular spin qubits — [Cu(mnt)2]²⁻ and related molecules as candidate qubits; measuring coherence times and investigating decoherence mechanisms; (3) Multi-qubit molecular registers — using exchange interactions for two-qubit gates within a molecule; (4) Magnetic sensing applications — molecular systems for magnetic field sensing below the diffraction limit. Partner of NPL M4Q EPSRC Network for Materials for Quantum.
Roessler uses continuous-wave and pulsed EPR/ENDOR spectroscopy to probe paramagnetic metal centres and radical intermediates in catalytic and bioinorganic systems, work that overlaps with the use of molecular spin centres as candidate EPR-addressable qubits/sensors.
Winpenny holds the Regius Chair in Chemistry at Manchester and is a world leader in molecular magnetism and molecular nanomagnets for quantum technologies. Research directions: (1) Molecular nanomagnets — synthesis of Cr7Ni 'horseshoe' rings and related cage clusters as prototype molecular qubits with long T2 times; (2) Multi-qubit molecular architectures — covalently linked molecular qubit pairs and arrays for quantum gate operations and distributed sensing; (3) Quantum error correction in molecules — designing molecular systems encoding logical qubits with error protection; (4) Quantum sensing applications — molecular spin systems as ultra-sensitive nanoscale magnetic sensors in the sub-nm regime. Leading the NPL M4Q Network and UK molecular qubit community.