Meet our team

A collective of curious, engineering-minded friends aligned around spin

Nuclear spins are ubiquitous, constituting everything around us. They do not participate in chemical reactions but report on their local chemical environment, making them excellent reporters of chemical structure. NMR spectroscopy can probe these spins but suffer from several technical limitations. We build novel instrumentation to overcome these challenges, to extend the power of NMR to new materials, regimes and applications.

Explore Our Research

Meet the Quantum Choreographer! (our P.I.)

Dr. Ashok Ajoy

Ashok Ajoy is an associate professor in the Chemistry Department.  His research interests include nanoscale NMR spectroscopy, methods for quantum sensing and quantum computing with spins, and the chemical physics of spin transport and dynamics at the nanoscale.

My mission is to set up a collegial and inquisitive classroom where learning is a fun experience, and students are driven to class everyday by a mix of curiosity, desire to learn, and as a means for it to be a window to their future aspirations. I am a strong believer that every student in the classroom is gifted, each in her or his own way, and the role of an instructor is that of a facilitator - to make the material accessible and fun to absorb while igniting the students’ innate curiosity. I also believe that learning is most effective amongst peers, and I seek to build a classroom with no “walls” or top-down hierarchies.

Download my CV

Research Staff


  • Senior Scientist/Engineer Extrordinaire

    Bio for Manny


  • Grants Manager

    Maxwell’s Bio!

Postdoctoral Researchers

  • Zachary Jones

    zrjones[@]berkeley.edu
    Ph.D. Chemistry
    University of Wisconsin - Madison

    Zack performs microfluidic-based measurement of oxidative stress in microbial systems using quantum sensing and develops protein-based quantum sensors. Outside of lab, he loves riding his bike, going to concerts, and playing volleyball.

  • Wern Ng

    wern.ng[@]berkeley.edu
    Ph.D. Materials
    Imperial College London

    Wern is our EPR specialist, studying the EPR of porphyrins embedded in MOFs and building EPR spectrometers in CW, pulsed and photoexcited transients. In his free time, he plays guitar, especially video game soundtracks. He is also a plant lover.

  • Madhur Parashar

    madhurparashar[@]berkeley.edu
    Ph.D. Biochemical Engineering
    IIT Kharagpur

    Madhur develops ultrasensitive bioassays based on NV defects in nanodiamonds in confined microdroplets. He is also researching biomicroscopy applications for new organic crystal quantum sensors. His hobby is long distance running!

  • Ryan Smith

    ryansmith63[@]berkeley.edu
    Ph.D. Physics
    UC Berkeley

    Ryan is improving performance of our hyperpolarized nuclear spin magnetometry. He also explores opportunities for our lab to contribute to the nuclear nonproliferation mission. An avid runner, he competes in distance running on the roads, track, and trails.

  • Brandon Wallace

    bjwallace[@]berkeley.edu
    Ph.D. Chemistry
    McGill University

    Brandon is studying the enhancement of chemical reactions in micron sized emulsions, accelerating condensation reactions compared to their macroscopic bulk rate. He likes hiking, sports, and any activities on the water!

Graduate Students

  • Noella D'Souza

    dsouzan[@]berkeley.edu
    B.S. Chemistry
    Boston College

    Noella’s graduate research focuses on growing crystalline pentacene materials to leverage their photoexcited triplet states for electron and nuclear spin-based quantum sensing. Outside of lab, she loves to go social dancing (salsa, bachata, swing, etc).

  • Anika Harkins

    kieren_harkins[@]berkeley.edu
    B.S. Chemistry, B.A. Engineering Science
    Trinity College

    Anika’s work focuses on instrumentation building to study long-lived nuclear spins, their uses, and the mechanisms behind their relaxation. In her free time, she enjoys reading, playing piano, building LEGOs and rock climbing.

  • Adrisha Sarkar

    adrisha[@]berkeley.edu
    B.S. Molecular and Cell Biology
    UC Berkeley

    Adrisha studies high-precision chemical quantum sensing in flowing monodisperse microdroplets.

  • Blake Andrews

    bca[@]berkeley.edu
    B.S. Chemistry
    Wheaton College

    Blake works on development and implementation of high throughput NMR using rudibium quantum sensors in the zero- to ultralow-field regime. Outside of lab, he enjoys video games, rubik's cubes, petting zoos, and all you can eat restaurants!

  • Joseph Garrett

    jkgarrett[@]berkeley.edu
    B.S. Chemistry
    Saint Mary’s College

    Joseph is our 3D printing extraordinaire, developing instrumentation across all subgroups, but especially for his research on pentacene crystal growth.

  • Leo Moon

    jm2239[@]berkeley.edu
    B.S. Engineering Physics and Computer Science
    Cornell

    Leo works on sensing protons using 13C nuclear spins inside a diamond, along with other projects such as investigating time crystal behavior and developing a new spectrometer. In his free time, he likes to to play basketball, play the violin, or go for a run.

  • Brooke Newell

    brooke_newell[@]berkeley.edu
    B.S. Earth Systems Science
    TCU

    Brooke focuses on the intersection of biogeochemistry and quantum sensing, where she is investigating how paramagnetic species behave in plant roots and soils. She feels most at home when she is hiking, camping, or generally adventuring around nature.

  • Enrico Richter

    e.richter[@]berkeley.edu
    B.S. Physics, M.S. Physics
    Universität Leipzig

    Enrico is developing deployable quantum sensors using nuclear spins in diamond, with an emphasis on creating robust pulse sequences. Astronomy is one of his passions that he pursues in his free time, giving back to the community through volunteering.

  • Cooper Selco

    cooperselco[@]berkeley.edu
    B.S. Physics
    USC

    Cooper works on Floquet engineering, relaxation of Floquet systems, hyperpolarization and spin diffusion, quantum sensing and cryogenic instrumentation. Outside of lab, he plays basketball, lifts weights, and watches sports (soccer, UFC, basketball, etc.).

  • Chongwei Zhang

    zcw1[@]berkeley.edu
    B.S. Physics
    USTC Hefei

    Chongwei’s research focuses on hyperpolarization of metal organic frameworks (MOFs). Previous work in this group included studying out-of-time-order correlators (OTOCs) for quantum scrambling. Besides research, he likes playing badminton.

  • Brayden Glockzin

    brayden_glockzin[@]berkeley.edu
    B.S. Chemistry, M.S. Chemistry
    University of Alberta

    Brayden studies magnetization trajectories of periodically driven spin systems. Outside of lab, his favorite things to do are play rec league softball and explore cool neighborhoods in the Bay Area!

  • Chaitali Shah

    chaitali_shah[@]berkeley.edu
    B.Tech. Electrical Engineering, M.Tech. Quantum Technology
    NITK Surathkal, IISc Bangalore

    Chaitali explores spin relaxation and transient dynamics in NV center diamonds for applications in non-equilibrium physics. She enjoys reading, hiking, dancing, and cooking in her free time.

  • Sihan Chai

    sihanchai[@]berkeley.edu
    B.S. Physics
    USTC

    Sihan is using nitrogen-vacancy center–based sensing in nanodiamond-loaded microdroplets to enable high-throughput biological assays. Outside of lab, her hobbies are painting and doing magic tricks!

Visiting Scholars

  • Xuehan Gao

    gao.xh[@]berkeley.edu
    B.S. Physics
    USTC

    Xuehan is working on zero- to ultralow-field NMR (ZULF-NMR). He enjoys playing soccer outside of lab.

  • Jiangning Gong

    jiangning[@]berkeley.edu
    B.S. Physics
    Tsinghua University

    Jiangning is developing a compact hyperpolarized nuclear-spin quantum sensing device. An artist at heart, she enjoys reading, writing, and watching shows and movies.

  • Victor Salavecz

    sviktor01[@]berkeley.edu
    B.S. Chemical Engineering, M.S. Chemical Engineering
    BME Hungary, KTH Sweden

    Victor is engineering a small-scale hyperpolarized NMR instrument. In his free time, he plays sports or enjoys chess.

Undergraduate Students

  • Siddarth Goswami

    Physics, Math
    Junior

    Siddarth is studying NV centers in diamonds at cryogenic temperatures. In his free time, he produces electronic music.

  • Tatiana Lindahl

    Chemistry
    Sophomore

    Tatiana is optimizing the crystal growth process for pentacene. Outside of lab, she likes to play volleyball and go to reptile vivariums/zoos.

  • Calvin Lee

    Chemistry, Computer Science
    Junior

    Calvin performs data analysis and improves the ZULF setup. He is working with CalSol to build a solar powered car!

  • Mark Rhee

    Applied Math
    Sophomore

    Mark is integrating machine learning into the process of detecting chemical binding events. He enjoys playing basketball and watching movies.

  • Nadia Schweiger

    Chemistry
    Senior

    Nadia builds instrumentation for low temperature experiments on hyperpolarized nuclear spins. She likes to rock climb, travel, and spend time outdoors!

  • Angad Singh

    Chemical Biology, Economics
    Senior

    Angad is studying systems under periodic driving to make quantum sensing more stable. He enjoys running and reading non-fiction.

  • Miles Strelecki

    Chemisty
    Post-baccalaureate

    Miles uses CAD to design and 3D print parts for the low field NV NMR shuttling system. He relaxes by cooking, hiking, and travelling.

  • Aristotle Yang

    Chemical Biology, MCB
    Junior

    Aris is studying how RF pulse control and low temperatures achieve longer nuclear spin lifetimes in NV diamonds. He likes to play golf and build PCs.

Why This Work Matters

Using quantum technologies to address outstanding challenges in the chemical sciences

NMR spectroscopy probes nuclear spins in samples non-invasively and with high chemical specificity. However, NMR suffers from poor spatial resolution and is not easily deployed naturally within sample environments. We develop new tools for "NMR microscopy" leveraging quantum sensors to allow NMR spectroscopy at nanoscale resolution.

Join the Lab