January 19, 2024:  Our work in collaboration with Prof. Jingsheng Chen from National University of Singapore entitled “Direct imaging of room temperature magnetic skyrmions in gradient-DMI engineered CoPt single layers” is submitted to Nature Materials.

January 18,2024: Mourad Zouhri joined our group as a PhD student. He will work on the quantum magnetic project using the recently built NV cryogenic setup. Welcome Mourad and look forward to productive years ahead!

January 11, 2024: Our paper entitled "Nitrogen-Vacancy Magnetic Relaxometry of Nanoclustered Cytochrome C Proteins" has been published at Nano Letters. A preprint is posted at  arXiv:2310.08605. Congratulations Suvechhya for the nice work!

December 10, 2023: Rupak's work on "Mapping of Spin-Wave Transport in Thulium Iron Garnet Thin Films Using Diamond Quantum Microscopy" has been published online at Advanced Electronic Materials. A preprint is posted at arXiv: arXiv:2310.06188.

November 28, 2023:  Our work in collaboration with Dr. Christos Argyropoulos (now at Penns State) entitled “Plasmonic Nanocavity to Boost Single Photon Emission from Ultrathin Hexagonal Boron Nitride Defects” is submitted to Advanced Materials. 

November 27, 2023:  Our work in collaboration with Dr. Christos Argyropoulos (now at Penns State) entitled “Unraveling the formation dynamics of metallic femtosecond laser induced periodic surface structures” is accepted at Optics and Laser Technology Journal. Live article can be found here: Optics & Laser Technology 171, 110410 (2024).

October 19, 2023: Our NSF $800k funded ExpandQISE project, in collaboration with Drs. Kapildep Ambal and Jian Wang from Wichita State University, is highlighted by UNL's college of Engineering. Link

October 12, 2023: Joshua Barker, a UNL undergraduate in Electrical Engineering  joined our group to work on quantum photonics with single photon emitters in hexagonal boron nitride. Welcome Joshua!

October 9, 2023: Our submitted abstract “Plasmonic Nanocavity Enhanced Quantum Properties of Single Photon Emitters in Hexagonal Boron Nitride,” is accepted for an Invited Oral presentation at the Photonic and Phononic Properties of Engineered Nanostructures XIV conference, SPIE, to be held in San Francisco between 27 January - 1 February 2024.

October 7, 2023: Our work in collaboration with Dr. Rebecca Lai (Chemistry) entitled “Detection of Iron in Nanoclustered Cytochrome C Proteins Using Nitrogen-Vacancy Magnetic Relaxometry” is submitted to Nano Letters. A preprint is posted a arXiv: arXiv:2310.08605.

October 2, 2023: Our paper entitled “An efficient method to create high-density nitrogen-vacancy centers in CVD diamond for sensing applications” is accepted at Diamond & Related Materials journal.

September 20, 2023:  Rupak's work on "Mapping of Spin-Wave Transport in Thulium Iron Garnet Thin Films Using Diamond Quantum Microscopy" is submitted to Advanced Electronic Materials. A preprint is posted a arXiv: arXiv:2310.06188.

September 1, 2023: Yifei Wang, a  Ph.D. Student at Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST), is visiting our group from September 1st to December 31st, 2023 to perform quantum sensing microscopy on 2D magnets. Welcome Yifei!

August 29, 2023: Dr. Laraoui is part of two awarded UNL's Grand Challenges teams. The first $4.17M catalyst award “Quantum Approaches Addressing Global Threats” is led by physicist Christian Binek and mathematician Susan Hermiller. Abdelghani Laraoui (MME) is part of IRG2 that will use quantum sensing technologies for sustainable agriculture and IRG3 (as a leader) that uses quantum technologies to mitigate the impact of climate change. Florin Bobaru (MME) is part of IRG 4 to develop Quantum Workforce and Quantum Literacy. The second funded $150k planning grant “Quantum Solutions for Energy Challenges: A Collaborative Leap Toward Sustainability” is led by Mohammad Ghashami (MME) with team including Abdelghani Laraoui (MME), Arman Roohi (School of Computing), and Sonya Türkman (interior design).

August 21, 2023: Our paper "Plasmon Enhanced Quantum Properties of Single Photon Emitters with Hybrid Hexagonal Boron Nitride Silver Nanocube Systems" is selected for the cover page at Advanced Optical Materials.

August 18, 2023: Dr. Laraoui is awarded a $800k NSF grant with Drs. Kapildeb Ambal and Jian Wang from Wichita State university within the ExpandQISE program

Jul 23 - Jul 28, 2023: Dr. Laraoui attended the Gordon Research Conference in Quantum Sensing. He presented an invited talk on his lab's recent research progress on using diamond quantum sensors to study nanoscale magnetic phenomena in solid-state materials and spin crossover molecules. More information can be found here: https://www.grc.org/quantum-sensing-conference/2023/ 

Jul 19, 2023: Dr Laraoui presented a seminar entitled “Study Nanoscale Magnetic Phenomena With Nitrogen-Vacancy Magnetic Microscopy” at the Institute of Chemistry and Materials of Strasbourg (IPCMS) in France. The link to the seminar announcement.

June 1, 2023: Enrique Stolz from Alfred University in NY and Mauricio Velasco from Central Community College in Columbus NE joined our group as REU students within the NSF funded EQUATE EPSCoR center to work on quantum cryogenic microscopy and quantum biosensing experiments respectively. 

June 1, 2023: Ben Hammons, 12th grade, joined our group to work on the cryogenic  diamond quantum sensing experiments. Thanks NCMN and Nebraska EPSCoR for supporting this through the Young Nebraska Scientists (YNS) program.

May 27, 2023: Our work in collaboration with Dr. Christos Argyropoulos (now at Penns State) entitled “Unraveling the formation dynamics of metallic femtosecond laser induced periodic surface structures” is submitted to ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.

May 8, 2023: Dr. Laraoui gave a seminar on Diamond Quantum Sensing Microscopy at University of Nebraska-Kearney (UNK) within Sigma Xi Science Cafe seminar series. Links to the advertisements at TwitterFacebook, and UNK.

May 5, 2023: Thitinun (Nick) Gas-osoth, a  Ph.D. Student at Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST), is visiting our group from May to August, 2023 to perform quantum sensing microscopy on 2D magnets. Welcome Nick!

April 26, 2023: Javad presented his work on Plasmon enhanced quantum properties of single photon emitters in hexagonal boron nitride flakes at the 2023 virtual MRS Spring Meeting.

April 20, 2023:  Our work in collaboration with Dr. Sy-Hwang Liou (Physics), Dr. Yinsheng Guo (Chemistry), and Dr. Rebecca Lai (Chemistry) entitled “Nitrogen-vacancy magnetometry of individual Fe-triazole spin crossover nanorods” is accpeted at ACS Nano.

April 18, 2023:  Undergraduate student Nathan Reineke awarded UCARE funding for summer 2023 and academic year 2023-2024. Congratulations Nate!

April 17, 2023: Our work in collaboration with Dr. Christos Argyropoulos (now at The Pennsylvania State University) “Plasmon Enhanced Single Photon Emitters with Hybrid Hexagonal Boron Nitride Silver Nanocube Systems” is accepted at Advanced Optical Materials.

April 5, 2023: Dr. Laraoui gave a virtual seminar on Probing Magnetic Phenomena in Nanomaterials Using Diamond to Prof. Carlos Meriles group at City College of New York.

March 20-22, 2023: Suvechhya presented her work on NV magnetometry of Fe-triazole spin crossover molecules at the 2023 virtual APS March Meeting. Link to the abstract.

March 22, 2023: Dr. Laraoui gave an invited seminar, entitled "Probing solid state Phenomena in quantum materials using quantum sensors"at Wichita State University. The link to the talk at Youtube.

March 5-10, 2023: Adam, Rupak, and Dr. Laraoui presented 4 contributed talks at the 2023 APS March Meeting in Las Vegas. Links to the abstracts are: AdamRupakLaraoui1Laraoui2

February 24, 2023: Our work in collaboration Our work in collaboration with Dr. Sy-Hwang Liou (Physics), Dr. Yinsheng Guo (Chemistry), and Dr. Rebecca Lai (Chemistry) entitled “Nitrogen-vacancy magnetometry of individual Fe-triazole spin crossover nanorods” is submitted to ACS Nano. A preprint is posted on ArXiv: arXiv:2303.09636.

February 15, 2023:  Javad’s work in collaboration with Dr. Christos Argyropoulos (now at The Pennsylvania State University) entitled “Plasmon Enhanced Single Photon Emitters with Hybrid Hexagonal Boron Nitride Silver Nanocube Systems” is submitted to Advanced Optical Materials. A preprint is posted on ArXiv: arXiv:2304.00314.

January 25, 2023:  Our work in collaboration with Dr. Kapil Ambal (Wichita State University) entitled “An efficient method to create high-density nitrogen-vacancy centers in CVD diamond for sensing applications” has been submitted to Diamond and Related Materials Journal. A preprint is posted on Arxiv: arXiv:2301.08712

January  23, 2023: Nathan Reineke, a UNL undergraduate student (Agricultural Engineering) joined our lab. Welcome Nate!

January 19, 2023: Dr. Laraoui gave an invited lecture on Probing Nanoscale Magnetic Phenomena Using Diamond Quantum Sensing Microscopy at the Virtual Lecture Series on Nanodiamond, organized by Adamas Nanotechnologies. The link to the talk at Youtube.

December 20, 2022: Adam’s paper entitled “Nanoscale imaging of antiferromagnetic domains in epitaxial films of Cr2O3 via scanning diamond magnetic probe microscopy” is published at The Royal Society of Chemistry Journal RSC Advances ( https://doi.org/10.1039/D2RA06440E).

September 11, 2022: Adam’s paper entitled “Imaging boundary magnetization of antiferromagnetic domains in epitaxial films of magnetoelectric Cr2O3 via scanning diamond magnetic probe microscopy” is submitted to Nanoscale. A preprint is posted on Arxiv (arXiv:2209.07476).

August 18, 2022: our MRI proposal “Acquisition of optical access in a cryogenic scanning probe microscope for quantum sensing capabilities” is funded by NSF. This proposal is led by Prof. Chrsitian Binek (NMV director) and Co-PIs: Abdelghani Laraoui, Xiaoshan Xu, and Xia Hong. This instrument will leverage the existing scanning probe microscopy capabilities which we have at NCMN and add the first commercial quantum sensing device to the set of characterization facilities at NCMN and UNL.  The announcement flyer is posted here.

August 5, 2022: Ben (highschooler), John (REU) and Patrick (REU) presented their summer work in our group in the form of poster presentations at #NebEQUATE #REUs & #YoungNebraskaScientists 

                                                            

Ben (left) is presenting his work on wirebonding MW stripelines for NV and FMR experiments       John (left)and Patrick (second from the left) are presenting their work on photonics with SPEs in hBN and FMR in iron garnets respectively   

July 23, 2022: Our paper, entitled Opportunities for Nitrogen-Vacancy-Assisted Magnetometry to Study Magnetism in 2D van der Waals Magnets is accepted at Applied Physics Letters.

June 6, 2022: Abdelghani gave a semiar on Diamond Quantum Sensing: Imaging Antiferromagnetic Domains and Iron Containing Biomolecules to High School interns though NCMN and EPScoR outreach programs. Thanks for providing the yummy veggie pizza!

June 1, 2022: Patrick Osborn from Ohio State University and John Kunkee from Nebraska Wesleyan University joined our group as REU students within EQUATE EPSCoR program to work on quantum magnonic and photonics projects.

June 1. 2022: Ben Hammons, 11 grade, joined our group to work on the wire-bonding station for FMR and NV-ODMR experiments. Thanks NCMN and Nerbsrak EPSCoR for supporting this throught Young Nebraska Scientists (YNS) program.

May 12, 2022: Our research on nitrogen vacancy scanning of chiral spin textures is highlighted by NCMN Newsletter 

May 23, 2022: Abdelghani gave a talk on imaging iron containing biomolecules using diamond quantums sensors at MRS Spring Virtual Meeting 2022.

March 18, 2022: Adam and Rupak presented two oral talks  on NV mapping of spin textures in chromia and Magnetic sensing of iron in biomolecules respectively at the APS March Meeting in Chicago, IL.

January 10, 2022: Our group moved to a new high-end Research Engineering Center. Despite the 2 months distraction from our running experiments we are excited to collaborate with colleagues from different engineering departments on quantum optics, quantum materials, and bioengineering. 

September 24th 2021: the website of the 20-million NSF funded Nebraska EPSCoR-Emergent Quantum Materials and Technologies is finally alive: https://equate.unl.edu/ . Stay tuned for the exciting outcomes of this amazing collaborative research in Nebraska.

September 20th, 2021: Riley Chase joined our group to perform undergraduate research on quantum sensing using nitrogen vacancy centers in diamond. Welcome Riley!

September 1st 2021: Dr. Mohammadjavad Dowran joined our group to work on the quantum photonics projects within the 20-million NSF funded Nebraska EPSCoR-Emergent Quantum Materials and Technologies (EQUATE). Welcome Javad.

May 25th, 2021. Dr. Kapil Ambal and his PhD student Sajib Halder from Wichita State University, KS (WSU) are visiting our group for the summer to perform nanofabrication at NCMN and research on NV magnetic microscopy of magnetic nano-memories. His research and visit is supported by NSF

May 24th, 2021. Dr. Laraoui (Focused Research Group FRG 2 leader in quantum sensing) with other PIs from Nebraska has received a five-year, $20 million award from the National Science Foundation’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) to create a research and education cluster aimed at enhancing the state’s competitiveness in the field of emergent quantum materials and technologies, and boosting the participating institutions’ research and education capacity. The Nebraska EPSCoR-Emergent Quantum Materials and Technologies (EQUATE) collaboration will revolutionize quantum science and create opportunities in education and through economic development. This announcement was featured by NSF, UNL, the Lincoln Journal Star, and many other resources.

The Nebraska EPSCoR-Emergent Quantum Materials and Technologies collaboration will revolutionize quantum science and create opportunities in education and through economic development. The Nebraska leaders in the effort are (from left): Abdelghani Laraoui, assistant professor of mechanical and materials engineering at Nebraska; Jonathan Wrubel, associate professor of physics at Creighton University; Xia Hong, associate professor of physics and astronomy at Nebraska; Christian Binek, Charles Bessey Professor of physics at Nebraska and EQUATE scientific director; Rebecca Lai, associate professor of chemistry at Nebraska and EQUATE associate director; and Matt Andrews, Nebraska EPSCoR director and EQUATE principal investigator.

February 15, 2021. Dr. Laraoui is among the faculty acknowledged for work on quantum science and engineering, one of the five grand challenges selected by Chancellor Green for Grand Challenges framework vision 2025.

January 25th, 2021. Dr. Laraoui offered a new class for Spring 2021, designed for senior undergraduate and graduate students, MATL-492/892: Introduction to Quantum Materials and technologies. This class covered basic topics (coherence, entanglement, two-level system, etc.) to advanced technologies (quantum cryptography, computing, etc.).

September 1st, 2020. Rupak Timalsina joined our group as a PhD student and will work on quantum sensing microscopy using color centers in diamond  and 2D materials

April 6th, 2020. Abdelghani gave a zoom seminar on quantum sensing based on diamond nitrogen vacancy centers at joint biweekly AMES/ Iowa State University zoom meetings.

March 26th, 2020. Abdelghani gave a zoom presentation on quantum sensing at UNL’s  symposium on Emergent Quantum Materials and Technologies (EQUATE)

Februray 13th, 2020. Thomas Baumert, a UNL undergraduate student (Mechanical Engineering) joins our group to perfmom research in quantum sensing with defetcs in diamond. Welcome Thomas!

January 13th, 2020. Adam Erickson and  Wai Kiat (Walter) Chin join our group as graduate students and will work on quantum microscopy using color centers in diamond and nanoscale imaging of spin textures, spin dyanmics and spin currents in magnetic nanomaterials, low dimensional materials, and thin films/multilayers. Welcome Adam and Walter!

November 7th, 2019. Abdelghani served as a poster judge at the Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physical Sciences

  WoPhyS2019

November 6th, 2019. Abdelghani presented his research at American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Professor Research Presentation Night event. This is part of UNL's ASME efforts to integrate engineering undegraduate students in research.

    ASME logo                  

October 21st, 2019. We have been awarded NSF UNL Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC ) seed to map room temperature skyrmions in ferromagnetic multilayers and ferrimagnetic spinels using diamond scanning probe microscopy!

  

October 16th, 2019. Abdelghani gave a seminar at Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience on his recent and ongoing research at UNM and UNL.

   

October 12th, 2019. Abdul Majeed Al Naabi, a UNL undergraduate student (Mechanical Engineering) joins our lab. Welcome Abdul!

September 24th, 2019. Abdelghani presented his research to graduate students of Mechanical & Materials Engineering at UNL.  Click here for presentation 

August 1st, 2019. We are starting NSF-DMR grant #1809800 through 8/31/2021 to study transition-metal nanoparticles (size < 20 nm) using time resolved diamond magnetic microscopy.

   

 August 1st, 2019. Our labs at University of Nebraska-Lincoln open for business