F. Joseph Heremans

I am currently a staff scientist at Argonne National Laboratory in the Center for Molecular Engineering and Materials Science Division, and a CASE Affiliated Scientist at the University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering.  I received my bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering and Music Theory from the University of Michigan in 2006, and my Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2013.  I worked in the group of David Awschalom researching spin defects in wide-bandgap materials, namely on the nitrogen vacancy (NV) center diamond, followed by a post-doc position at University of Chicago in the Awschalom group from 2013-2015.  In 2016, I started as an assistant staff scientist at Argonne National Lab. 

My current research focuses on engineering spin systems in diamond, silicon carbide, and other wide bandgap semiconductors as a versatile and scalable quantum platform.  I work on a wide range of quantum applications including the fundamental development of quantum materials and hybrid quantum systems, heterogenous materials integration, quantum communication, quantum sensing, and scalable quantum technology. 

Preprints:

• E. Drigo, M. M. McMillan, B. Pingault, Y. Dong, F. J. Heremans, D. D. Awschalom, G. Galli. ​“Spin Dynamics from Atomistic Quantum Simulations.”,
• S. W. Ding, C. Jin, Z. Li, N. Achuthan, K. Kuruma, X. Guo, B. Grinkemeyer, D. D. Awschalom, N. Delegan, F. J. Heremans, A. A. High, M. Loncar. ​“Heterogeneously Integrated Diamond-on-Lithium Niobate Quantum Photonic Platform.”,
• C. Zeledon, B. Pingault, J.Marcks, Nikita Onizhuk, Yeghishe Tsaturyan, Benjamin Soloway, Jacob Feder, Jawad Ul-Hassan, Hiroshi Abe, Takeshi Ohshima, Nguyen T. Son, Joseph Heremans, Giulia Galli, Christopher P. Anderson,  David D. Awschalom, ​“Minute-long quantum coherence enabled by electrical depletion of magnetic noise”

Recent Publications:

2026

• K. Neeraj, M. J Highland, T. Zhou, B. Guzelturk, D. A Walko, N. C. Flanders, N. Delegan, F. J. Heremans, M. V. Holt, S. O. Hruszkewycz, H. Wen, ​“Depth-Resolved X-Ray Nanoimaging of Coherent and Incoherent Energy Transport in Silicon Carbide”, ACS Nano, 20, 12850 (2026). [Article Link]
• V. Somjit, G. Grant, S. Chattaraj, S. Guha, D. D. Awschalom, G. Galli, J. Zhang, F. J. Heremans. ​“Optimizing spin qubit coherence through materials codesign.” MRS Bulletin 51, 260, (2026). [Article Link]
• A. Raghavan, S. Bae, N. Delegan, F. J. Heremans, V. Madhavan, ​“Atomic-scale imaging and charge state manipulation of NV centers by scanning tunneling microscopy”, Nature Communications, 17, 1617 (2026). [Article Link]

2025

• S. K. Seth, J. Nagura, V. Somjit, A. Bapat, X. Li, G. D. Grant, I. Masiulionis, X. Han, F. J. Heremans, G. Galli, D. D. Awschalom, S. Guha, J. Zhang. ​“Spin decoherence dynamics of Er3+ in CeO2 film.”, Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 266901 (2025). [Article Link]
• J. C. Marcks, E. Eagen, E. C. Brann, M. P. Losert, T. Oh, J. Reily, C. S. Wang, D. Keith, F. A. Mohiyaddin, F. Luthi, M. J. Curry, J. Zhang, F. J. Heremans, M. Friesen, M. A. Eriksson. ​“Valley Splitting Correlations Across a Silicon Quantum Well.” Nature Communications, 16, 11381 (2025). [Article Link]
• A. N. Poteshman, M. Onizhuk, C. Egerstrom, D. P. Mark, D. D. Awschalom, F. J. Heremans, G. Galli. ​“High-throughput spin-bath characterization of spin defects in semiconductors.”, Phys. Rev. Applied 24, 054048 (2025). [Article Link]

2024

• J. Ahn, C. Wicker, N. Bitner, M. T. Solomon, B. Tissot, G. Burkard, A. M. Dibos, J. Zhang, F. J. Heremans, D. D. Awschalom. ​“Extended spin relaxation times of optically addressed vanadium defects in silicon carbide at telecommunication frequencies.”, Phys. Rev. Applied 22, 044078 (2024). [Article Link]
• 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, A. A. High. ​“Direct-bonded diamond membranes for heterogeneous quantum and electronic technologies.”  Nature Communication 15, 8788 (2024). [Article Link]
• J. C. Marcks, M. Onizhuk, Y.-X. Wang, Y. Zhu, Y. Jin, B. S. Soloway, M. Fukami, N. Delegan, F. J. Heremans, A. A. Clerk, G. Galli, D. D. Awschalom. ​“Quantum Spin Probe of Single Charge Dynamics”, Phys. Rev. Lett. 133, 130802 (2024). [Article Link]
• A. Addhya, V. Tyne, X. Guo, I. N. Hammock, Z. Li, M. Leung, C. T. DeVault, D. D. Awschalom, N. Delegan, F. J. Heremans, A. A. High, ​“Photonic-Cavity-Enhanced Laser Writing of Color Centers in Diamond”,  Nano Lett. 2024, 24, 36, 11224 (2024). [Article Link]
• (Featured on cover) J. Wong, M. Onizhuk, J. Nagura, A. S. Thind, J. K. Bindra, C. Wicker, G. D. Grant, Y. Zhang, J. Niklas, O. G. Poluektov, R. F. Klie, J. Zhang, G. Galli, F. J. Heremans, D. D. Awschalom, A. P. Alivisatos., ​“Coherent Erbium Spin Defects in Colloidal Nanocrystal Hosts”, ACS Nano, 18, 19110 (2024). [Article Link]

2023

• (Featured on cover) J. A. Michaels, N. Delegan, Y. Tsaturyan, J. G. Eden, D. D. Awschalom, and F. J. Heremans, ​“Atomic Layer Etching of 4H-Silicon Carbide Produces Sub-Angstrom RMS Surface Roughness”, Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A 41, 032607 (2023).  [Article Link]
• N. Delegan, S. J. Whiteley, T. Zhou, M. Titze, E. Bielejec, D. D. Awschalom, M. Holt, F. J. Heremans, ” Deterministic nanoscale quantum spin-defect implantation and diffraction strain imaging.”, Nanotechnology 34 385001 (2023)
• J. C. Jones, N. Delegan, F. J. Heremans, A. B. F. Martinson, ​“Atomic Layer Deposition Nucleation Dependence on Diamond Surface Termination”, Carbon 213, 118276 (2023).
• P. C. Jerger, Y.-X. Wang, M. Onizhuk, B. Soloway, M. T. Solomon, C. Egerstrom, F. J. Heremans, G. Galli, A. A. Clerk, and D. D. Awschalom., ​“Sensing bath polarization via dynamical phase shifts of single nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond.”, PRX Quantum 4,040315 (2023).

2022

• K. J. Harmon, N. Delegan, M. J. Highland, H. He, P. Zapol, F. J. Heremans and S. O. Hruszkewycz, ​“Designing silicon carbide heterostructures for quantum information science: challenges and opportunities”, Mater. Quantum. Technol. 2 023001 (2022). [Article Link]
• A. M Dibos, M. T. Solomon, S. E Sullivan, M. K. Singh, K. E. Sautter, C. P. Horn, G. D. Grant, Y. Lin, J. Wen, F. J. Heremans, S. Guha, D. D. Awschalom, ​“Purcell enhancement of erbium ions in TiO on silicon nanocavities”, Nano Lett., 22, 16, 6530–6536 (2022).  [Article Link]
• S. Kanai, F. J. Heremans, H. Seo, G. Wolfowicz, C. P. Anderson, S. E. Sullivan, G. Galli, D. D. Awschalom, H. Ohno, ​“Generalized scaling of spin qubit coherence in over 12,000 host materials.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 119 (15) e2121808119 (2022). [Article Link]

2021

• (Featured on cover) G. Wolfowicz*, F. J. Heremans*, C. P. Anderson*, S. Kanai, H. Seo, A. Gali, G. Galli, D. D. Awschalom, ​“Qubit guidelines for solid-state spin defects.” Nature Reviews Materials 6, 906(2021). [Article Link]
• X. Guo, N. Delegan, J. C. Karsch, Z. Li, T. Liu, R. Shreiner, A. Butcher, D. D. Awschalom, F. J. Heremans, A. A. High. ​“Tunable and Transferable Diamond Membranes for Integrated Quantum Technologies.” Nano Lett. 21, 24, 10392 (2021) [Article Link]
• M.C. Marshall, D. F. Phillips, M. J. Turner, M. J.H. Ku, T. Zhou, F. J. Heremans, M. V. Holt, R. L. Walsworth, ​“Scanning X-ray Diffraction Microscopy for Diamond Quantum Sensing.” Phys. Rev. Applied 16, 054032 (2021) [Article Link]
• G. Wolfowicz, F. J. Heremans, D. D. Awschalom. ​“Parasitic erbium photoluminescence in commercial telecom fiber optical components.” Optics Letters 46, 19, 4852 (2021). [Article Link]
• J. Trimble, B. Gould, F. J. Heremans, S. Zhang, D. D. Awschalom, J. Berezovsky, ​“Relaxation of a single defect spin by the low-frequency gyrotropic mode of a magnetic vortex.” Journal of Applied Physics 130, 083903 (2021) [Article Link]
• Y. Jin, M. Govoni, G. Wolfowicz, S. E. Sullivan, F. J. Heremans, D. D. Awschalom, G. Galli. ​“Photoluminescence spectra of point defects in semiconductors: Validation of first-principles calculations.” Phys. Rev. Materials 5, 084603 (2021). [Article Link]
• D. D. Awschalom, C. H. R. Du, R. He, F. J. Heremans, A. Hoffmann, J. T. Hou, H. Kurebayashi, Y. Li, L. Liu, V. Novosad, J. Sklenar, S. E. Sullivan, D. Sun, H. Tang, V. Tiberkevich, C. Trevillian, A. W. Tsen, L. R. Weiss, W. Zhang, X. Zhang, L. Zhao, C. W. Zollitsch, ​“Quantum engineering with hybrid magnonics systems and materials.” IEEE Transactions on Quantum Engineering, 5500836 (2021). [Article Link]

2020

• A. Butcher, X. Guo, R. Shreiner, N. Delegan, K. Hao, P. J. Duda III, D. D. Awschalom, F. J. Heremans, A. A. High. High-Q Nanophotonic Resonators on Diamond Membranes using Templated Atomic Layer Deposition of TiO2. Nano Letters (2020) [Article Link]
• G. Wolfowicz, C. P. Anderson, B. Diler, O. G. Poluektov, F. J. Heremans, D. D. Awschalom. Vanadium spin qubits as telecom quantum emitters in silicon carbide, Science Advances eaaz1192 (2020). [Article Link]
• S. Maddali, P. Li, A. Pateras, D. Timbie, N. Delegan, A. L. Crook, H. Lee, I. Calvo-Almazan, D. Sheyfer, W. Cha, F. J. Heremans, D. D. Awschalom, V. Chamard, M. Allain and S. O. Hruszkewycz, General approaches for shear-correcting coordinate transformations in Bragg coherent diffraction imaging. Part I. J. Appl. Cryst. 53, 393 (2020). [Article Link]
• B. Diler, S. J. Whiteley, C. P. Anderson, G. Wolfowicz, M. E. Wesson, E. S. Bielejec, F. J. Heremans, D. D. Awschalom. Coherent control and high-fidelity readout of chromium ions in commercial silicon carbide, npj Quantum Information 6, 11 (2020). [Article Link]

Other Publications:

• S. J. Whiteley, G. Wolfowicz, C. P. Anderson, A. Bourassa, H. Ma, M. Ye, G. Koolstra, K. J. Satzinger, M. V. Holt, F. J. Heremans, A. N. Cleland, D. I. Schuster, G. Galli, D. D. Awschalom, Spin-phonon interactions in silicon carbide addressed by Gaussian acoustics, Nature Physics, 15, 490–495, 2019. [Article Link]
• (Featured on cover) A. Shearrow, G. Koolstra, S. J. Whiteley, N. Earnest, P. S. Barry, F. J. Heremans, D. D. Awschalom, E. Shirokoff, D. I. Schuster, Atomic layer deposition of titanium nitride for quantum circuits. Applied Physics Letter 113, 212601 (2018). [Article Link]
• S.O. Hruszkewycz, S. Maddali, C.P. Anderson, W. Cha, K.C. Miao, M.J. Highland, A. Ulvestad, D.D. Awschalom, F.J. Heremans, Strain annealing of SiC nanoparticles revealed through Bragg coherent diffraction imaging for quantum technologies, Physical Review Materials 2, 086001 (2018). [Article Link]
• P. Andrich, J. Li, X. Liu, F.J. Heremans, P.F. Nealey, D.D. Awschalom, Microscale resolution thermal mapping using a flexible platform of patterned quantum sensors, 18 (8), 4684–4690 (2018). [Article Link]
• G. Wolfowicz, C. P. Anderson, A. L. Yeats, S. J. Whiteley, J. Niklas, O. G. Poluektov, F. J. Heremans, D. D. Awschalom, Optical charge state control of spin defects in 4H-SiC, Nature Communications 8, 1876 (2017). [Article Link]
• P. Andrich, C. F. de las Casas, X. Liu, H. L. Bretscher, J. R. Berman, F. J. Heremans, P. F. Nealey, and D. D. Awschalom, Long-range spin wave mediated control of defect qubits in nanodiamonds, NPJ Quantum Information, 3 1-7 (2017). [Article Link]
• S. O. Hruszkewycz, W. Cha, P. Andrich, C. P. Anderson, A. Ulvestad, R. Harder, P. H. Fuoss, D. D. Awschalom and F. J. Heremans, In-situ study of annealing-induced strain relaxation in diamond nanoparticles using Bragg coherent diffraction imaging, APL Materials 5 026105 (2017). [Article Link]
• F. J. Heremans, C. G. Yale, and D. D. Awschalom, Control of Spin Defects in Wide-Bandgap Semiconductors for Quantum Technologies, Proceedings of the IEEE 104, 10 (2016). [Article Link]
• C. G. Yale, F. J. Heremans, B. B. Zhou, A. Auer, G. Burkard, D. D. Awschalom, Optically manipulation of Berry phase in a solid-state spin qubit, Nature Photonics 10, 184 (2016). [Article Link]