Aaron Esser-Kahn Molecular Engineering
Papers from NSF QuBBE
U. Zvi, S. Mundhra, D. Ovetsky, Q. Chen, A.R. Jones, S. Wang, M. Roman, M. Ferro, K. Odunsi, M.C. Garassino, M.E. Flatte', M. Swartz, D.R. Candido, A. Esser-Kahn, and P.C. Maurer, "Probing Cellular Activity Via Charge-Sensitive Quantum Nanoprobes", Advanced Materials e05107 (2025)
U. Zvi, S. Mundhra, D. Ovetsky, Q. Chen, A.R. Jones, S. Wang, M. Roman, M. Ferro, K. Odunsi, M.C. Garassino, M.E. Flatte', M. Swartz, D.R. Candido, A. Esser-Kahn, and P.C. Maurer, "Probing Cellular Activity Via Charge-Sensitive Quantum Nanoprobes", arXiv preprint arXiv:2503.20816 (2025)
U. Zvi, D.R. Candido, A.M. Weiss, A.R. Jones, L. Chen, I. Golovina, X. Yu, S. Wang, D.V. Talapin, M.E. Flatte, A.P. Esser-Kahn, and P.C. Maurer, "Engineering Spin Coherence in Core-Shell Diamond Nanocrystals", Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 122 e2422542122 (2025)
K. Kloska, K. Funk, A. Piatt-Price, C. Wei-Huang, J. Wang, and A. Esser-Kahn, "Design and Implementation of a CO Capture Device Utilizing Photothermal Effect", Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 64 17975-17980 (2025)
J.S. Feder, B.S. Soloway, S. Verma, Z.Z. Geng, S. Wang, B.B. Kifle, E.G. Riendeau, Y. Tsaturyan, L.R. Weiss, M. Xie, J. Huang, A. Esser-Kahn, L. Gagliardi, D.D. Awschalom, and P.C. Maurer, "A Fluorescent-Protein Spin Qubit", Nature 645 73-79 (2025)
E.J. Mulder, B. Moser, J. Delgado, R.C. Steinhardt, and A.P. Esser-Kahn, "Evidence of Collective Influence in Innate Sensing Using Fluidic Force Microscopy", Front Immunol 15 1340384 (2024)
E.J. Mulder, B. Moser, J. Delgado, R. Steinhardt, and A.P. Esser-Kahn, "Protocol for Localized Macrophage Stimulation with Small-Molecule Tlr Agonist Via Fluidic Force Microscopy", STAR Protoc 5 102873 (2024)
X. Guo, M. Xie, A. Addhya, A. Linder, U. Zvi, S. Wang, X. Yu, T.D. Deshmukh, Y. Liu, I.N. Hammock, Z. Li, C.T. DeVault, A. Butcher, A.P. Esser-Kahn, D.D. Awschalom, N. Delegan, P.C. Maurer, F.J. Heremans, and A.A. High, "Direct-Bonded Diamond Membranes for Heterogeneous Quantum and Electronic Technologies", Nat Commun 15 8788 (2024)
J.S. Feder, B.S. Soloway, S. Verma, Z.Z. Geng, S. Wang, B.B. Kifle, E.G. Riendeau, Y. Tsaturyan, L.R. Weiss, M. Xie, J. Huang, A. Esser-Kahn, L. Gagliardi, D.D. Awschalom, and P.C. Maurer, "A Fluorescent-Protein Spin Qubit", arXiv preprint arXiv:2411.16835 (2024)
A.L. Cook, M.A. Dearborn, T.M. Anderberg, K. Vaidya, J.E. Jureller, A.P. Esser-Kahn, and A.H. Squires, "Polymer Patterning by Laser-Induced Multipoint Initiation of Frontal Polymerization", ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 16 17973-17980 (2024)
U. Zvi, D.R. Candido, A. Weiss, A.R. Jones, L. Chen, I. Golovina, X. Yu, S. Wang, D.V. Talapin, M.E. Flatté, A.P. Esser-Kahn, and P.C. Maurer, "Engineering Spin Coherence in Core-Shell Diamond Nanocrystals", arXiv:2305.03075 (2023)
U. Zvi, A. Jones, A. Weiss, P. Maurer, and A. Esser-Kahn, "Core-Shell Architecture for Engineered Biocompatible Quantum Nanoprobes", APS March Meeting Abstracts 2022 N00. 349 (2022)
News from NSF QuBBE
Paper Published 8/3/2026
Peter Maurer and Aaron Esser-Kahn have published new work in Advanced Materials showing that shifts in nanodiamond qubit resonances, long attributed to heat from cellular activity, instead arise from a surface charge effect - opening a new route to taking a cell's vital signs. Read the PME story.
Physics Breakthrough 12/11/2025
Peter Maurer, David Awschalom, Laura Gagliardi, and Aaron Esser-Kahn's research on fluorescent-protein spin qubits has been named one of the top 10 physics breakthroughs of 2025.
Paper Published 8/20/2025
Peter Maurer, David Awschalom, Laura Gagliardi, and Aaron Esser-Kahn have published the first fluorescent-protein spin qubit in Nature, turning a protein that cells can build themselves into a quantum sensor. Read the PME story.
Paper Published 5/22/2025
Peter Maurer and Aaron Esser-Kahn, with collaborators, have published in PNAS a core-shell nanodiamond quantum biosensor, inspired by QLED televisions, that improves the quantum properties of nanodiamond sensors inside living cells.
In the news... 10/28/2024
Work from Alex High, Peter Maurer, Aaron Esser-Kahn, David Awschalom, and Joe Heremans on bonding diamond membranes directly to other materials for quantum sensing and electronics is featured in UChicago News.
CZI BioHub Chicago 7/10/2024
CZ Biohub Chicago funds NSF QuBBE investigators, including Aaron Esser-Kahn, Peter Maurer, and Alex Pearson for quantum-enabled identifiers to track individual immune cells; Samantha Riesenfeld and Allison Squires for inflammatory biomarker detection; and Margaret Gardel for characterizing inflammatory responses.