The pursuit of expanding the frontiers of quantum technology continues at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), where Huan Zhao, a Eugene P. Wiger Fellow, is making significant strides. According to a profile published on the Oak Ridge National Laboratory website, Zhao's current work bridges the gap between quantum materials and the burgeoning field of quantum information technologies.

Zhao's path began in a small town in northern China, and his academic perseverance led him to become the first person in his family to earn a doctorate. After receiving his degree in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California, Zhao worked on resistive memory devices and materials with uniquely high optical birefringence. His work not only garnered a Top Paper Award from Nano Research in 2017 but boasts practical implications in data transmission and telecommunications.

Zhao honed his quantum optics and optical imaging skills during successive postdoctoral fellowships, including one at the California Institute of Technology. He attributes a part of his growth in these fields to the mentorship of Lihong Wang and Ahmed Zewail, a Nobel laureate he encountered at Caltech. Zhao told Oak Ridge National Laboratory online about his experience delving into the "wonderland" of ultrafast imaging science through his collaborations.

His expertise is particularly evident in his role as technical contact for the scanning nitrogen-vacancy (NV) microscope at ORNL's Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences. The NV microscope, which stands out for its extreme sensitivity to magnetic fields, represents a significant advancement in electromagnetic measurement capabilities. Zhao explained the device's precision, noting, according to Oak Ridge National Laboratory, "Our scanning NV microscope is so sensitive that you can measure the tiny differences in the earth’s magnetic field at different locations in the lab." The technology is pivotal for research across a spectrum of scientific disciplines.