David Awschalom Molecular Engineering and Physics
Papers from NSF QuBBE
T.-X. Zheng, M.I. Bakti Utama, X. Gao, M. Kar, X. Yu, S. Kang, H. Cai, T. Ruan, D. Ovetsky, U. Zvi, G. Lao, Y.-X. Wang, O. Raz, S. Chitransh, G.T. Smith, L.R. Weiss, M.H. Czyz, S. Yang, A.J. Fairhall, K. Watanabe, T. Taniguchi, D.D. Awschalom, A.P. Alivisatos, R.H. Goldsmith, G.C. Schatz, M.C. Hersam, and P.C. Maurer, "A Surface-Scaffolded Molecular Qubit", arXiv:2601.19976 (2026)
C. Zeledon, B. Pingault, J.C. Marcks, M. Onizhuk, Y. Tsaturyan, Y.-x. Wang, B.S. Soloway, H. Abe, M. Ghezellou, J. Ul-Hassan, T. Ohshima, N.T. Son, F.J. Heremans, G. Galli, C.P. Anderson, and D.D. Awschalom, "Minute-Long Quantum Coherence Enabled by Electrical Depletion of Magnetic Noise", arXiv:2504.13164 (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)
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)
X. Guo, A. Linder, M. Xie, A. Addhya, Z. Li, I. Hammock, N. Delegan, C. Devault, A. Butcher, and D. Awschalom, "Manufacturing Integrated Quantum Systems with Direct-Bonded Diamond Membranes", APS March Meeting Abstracts 2023 M39. 010 (2023)
News from NSF QuBBE
Falling Walls Breakthrough of the Year 9/9/2026
Congratulations to David Awschalom on winning the Falling Walls Science Breakthrough of the Year in Physical Sciences for his work turning molecules and proteins into qubits, including the fluorescent-protein spin qubit developed with Peter Maurer.
Big Brains Podcast 5/28/2026
David Awschalom joins a Big Brains live event on quantum technology and Chicago's role in the quantum ecosystem.
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.
Patrusky Lecture 11/8/2025
David Awschalom is presenting the 13th Patrusky Lecture at ScienceWriters 2025 in Chicago.
TEDxChicago 10/22/2025
David Awschalom speaks at TEDxChicago on how quantum technologies may impact your life.
In the news... 9/12/2025
The fluorescent-protein spin qubit from Peter Maurer's and David Awschalom's groups is featured in Science News, following coverage by Phys.org and The Quantum Insider.
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.
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.