Zihuai Zhang
Assistant Professor
Department of Physics, Colorado School of Mines
Experimental quantum systems · superconducting circuits · nanomechanics · defects in solids

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics at Colorado School of Mines. Our group explores solid-state quantum systems for sensing, information processing, and quantum-enabled technologies. We combine superconducting circuits, nanomechanical devices, and quantum defects to develop new platforms for coherent control, transduction, and engineered quantum matter, with an emphasis on understanding and mitigating the microscopic mechanisms that limit coherence.

Our work is inherently interdisciplinary and combines quantum device engineering, superconducting and spin-based systems, nanofabrication, microwave and electromechanical control, materials characterization, and low-temperature measurement. We are especially excited by ideas that bridge physics, engineering, and materials science.

Recruiting
We are actively recruiting PhD students starting in Spring and Fall 2027. If you are excited by experimental quantum science and creative approaches to quantum devices and systems, please see the Opportunities page.

Education
  • Princeton University
    Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering
    Aug. 2016 - Oct. 2022
  • University of Science and Technology of China
    B.S. in Physics
    Sep. 2012 - Jul. 2016
Experience
  • University of California, Berkeley and Berkeley Lab
    Postdoctoral Scholar
    Nov. 2022 - Aug. 2026
News
2026
Our collaborative work on a diamond defect with millisecond-scale spin relaxation was published in Physical Review B as an Editors' Suggestion and featured in Physics.
Aug 13
Our invited review, "Point defects in semiconductors: Friends and foes for quantum technologies," has been published in MRS Bulletin.
May 24
Zihuai accepted a position as Assistant Professor of Physics at Colorado School of Mines and will join in mid-August.
Apr 21