Diamond Nanoparticles for Quantum Sensing in Healthcare

Diamond is a unique material with superlative properties such as unrivalled hardness and transparency over a wide wavelength range. Defects in diamond such as nitrogen and silicon form colour centres, emitting light at specific wavelengths, one photon at a time (single photon emission). These colour centres are important for quantum technologies as they operate at room temperature with very long coherence times. They are also very successful biomarkers with bright luminescence, no bleaching and zero toxicity to living cells. This makes nanoparticles of diamond containing designer impurities / colour centres a very attractive paradigm for bio-marking cells, drug delivery and quantum operations. 

Recently, we have demonstrated record breaking coherence times in diamond nanoparticles. These particles have been the backbone of optical levitation experiments, MRI contrast enhancers and new routes to monitoring battery electrolyte properties. A large Quantum Hub (~£27M) application has recently been awarded, collaborating with UCL, Cambridge, Oxford, Warwick and the NHS based on the exploitation of these particles for new sensors in Healthcare and virus detection.  

This project will build on this success to develop scalable production and new colour centres. Silicon, nitrogen or boron will be intentionally incorporated during diamond growth and the resulting light emission characterised with Photoluminescence. The diamond will then be milled into nanoparticles so it can be manipulated into photonic cavities or exploited as a fluorescent biomarker. The particle size distributions and surface groups of the particles will also be controlled by post purification processes. Photoluminescence will be characterised by the departments new Horiba Labram Raman / Photoluminescence apparatus. The coherence time will be characterised by Electron Paramagnetic Resonance in collaboration with the University of Warwick. In the case of boron, we will characterise superconductivity of the particles by Vibrating Sample Magnetometry in the groups low temperature Physical Property Measurement System (Quantum Design Evercool II PPMS). We will also exploit our new Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy system to characterise the surface groups and their effect on light emission. 

How to apply:

Applicants should apply to the Doctor of Philosophy in Physics and Astronomy with a start date of 1st October 2025. 

Applicants should submit an application for postgraduate study via the Cardiff University webpages (https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/research/programmes/programme/physics-and-astronomy) including: 

• your academic CV (Guidance on CVs for a PhD position can be found on the FindAPhD website)

• your degree certificates and transcripts to date including certified translations if these are not in English 

• a personal statement/covering letter 

Ensure your personal statement (as part of the university application form, or as a separate attachment, if you prefer) provides a clear explanation of your research interest, preparation undertaken, and an understanding of the project. 

Your personal statement should be no more than 500 words, and address the following questions:

1. What are your scientific research interests and ambition?

2. How has your academic and/or professional journey prepared you for PhD study? (for instance, give examples of work you particularly enjoyed, of challenges you overcame, of connecting with others about your work or ideas, of showing inventiveness, of developing new skills and knowledge)

3. Why do you think this project is important?”

• two references (applicants are recommended to have a third academic referee, if the two academic referees are within the same department/school). Your references can be emailed by the referee to [email protected]  

Please note: We are do not contact referees directly for references for each applicant due to the volume of applications we receive.     

Candidates should hold or expect to gain a first-class degree or a good 2.1 (or their equivalent) in Engineering, Physics or a related subject. Desirable skills are knowledge of Quantum Physics, Optics, Semiconductors, Technology, Physics, Engineering.

Applicants whose first language is not English are normally expected to meet the minimum University requirements (e.g. IELTS 6.5 Overall with 5.5 minimum in sub-scores) (https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/study/international/english-language-requirements) 

In the “Research Proposal” section of your application, please specify the project title and supervisors of this project and copy the project description in the text box provided.

In the funding section, please select that you will not be self-funding and write that the source of funding will be EPSRC. 

Once the deadline for applications has passed, we will review your application and advise you within a few weeks if you have been shortlisted for an interview. 

Eligibility :

This studentships are available to home and international students. International students will not be charged the fee difference between the UK and international rate. Applicants should satisfy the UKRI eligibility requirements.

For more information, or if there are any questions re application process, please contact Physics and Astronomy PGR Student Support team at [email protected]