![\"Jess](\"http:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperialquest\/files\/2025\/07\/Dr-Jess-Wade-1-1024x576.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Dr Jess Wade is an Assistant Professor in Functional Materials in the Department of Materials at Imperial College London. In this blog post, she shares more about her research as part of QuEST (Centre for Quantum Engineering, Science and Technology at Imperial College London). Jess’ research focuses on Chiral molecules and, she’s passionate about communicating the wonders of science with broad audiences.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Can you tell us about your research area?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I work with chiral molecules, using their unique optical and electronic properties to control the spin of electrons and photons. Chirality is a property of symmetry and shape that manifests across multiple length scales in the human made and naturally occurring world. Chiral objects exist as a pair of non-superimposable mirror images, like your left and right hands. At the sub-atomic scale, quantum objects like photons and electrons are chiral (they can be spin \u2018up\u2019 or spin \u2018down\u2019, left- or right-handed). We\u2019re interested in identifying chiral molecules that can generate and detect very strongly chiral light, or transport spin-polarised charges. These light-matter and spin-transport interactions are impacted by nearby fields, which means as well as controlling the spin of quantum objects, chiral molecules can act as very sensitive readouts of magnetic and electric fields. The chiral crew at Imperial are a team of interdisciplinary researchers who design and optimise new chiral molecules, develop new strategies to assemble them in the solid-state, make use of advanced characterisation techniques to understand their structural and functional properties and devise strategies to use them in optoelectronic, spintronic and quantum devices. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n What led you to study this area?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n I worked in molecular photovoltaics during my PhD, which inspired me about the power and versatility of organic semiconductors. Organic semiconductors are molecules or polymers that have the electronic properties of semiconductors but the processing requirements of plastics. They have tuneable functional properties (e.g. you can use the rich toolkit of organic chemistry to control the colours of light they absorb and emit), are simple to integrate into complex, miniature device geometries, and have a range of accessible quantum states at room temperature. I started caring a lot more about chirality during my postdoc, where I optimised chiral molecular emitters for Circularly Polarised Light Emitting Didoes. While these OLEDs open the door to high efficiency, high performance displays for mobile phones, laptops and televisions, similar molecular designs could one day be used for tailor-made single photon sources, where information can be encoded in the (circular) polarisation of emitted photons. As I learned more about chirality, I became more curious about whether it could offer any advantages to molecular quantum technologies \u2013 in particular, controlling the spin of quantum objects without needing magnetic fields. As an Imperial College Research Fellow, I started working on developing precise strategies to control the assembly of chiral molecules in the solid state, and as a Royal Society University Research Fellow we are exploring how these chiral materials can be used in quantum computing and sensing.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n What are the main aims of your current research?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n At the moment, we\u2019re looking to understand how chiral molecules control spin. While a lot of theories have been proposed to explain \u201cchiral induced spin selectivity,\u201d, the lack of fundamental understanding limits our ability to exploit remarkable experimental observations. We\u2019re developing ultra-sensitive probes to characterise spin (in the solid state and in isolated molecules), as well as exploring how to optimise molecular design to impart high spin control.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Beyond our own research, I\u2019d like to see a step-change in the materials we use for quantum technologies. Molecules offer the potential for quantum control at room temperature without the need for magnetic fields, using light to initiate and read-out quantum states. Whilst this doesn\u2019t sound like much, it\u2019s a huge advance over the harsh operating requirements of more mature quantum systems \u2013 we don\u2019t need dilution fridges or powerful magnets, which makes the packaging and circuitry more simple (no need to bridge thermal gradients or build sturdy shields). I\u2019d love to see more of the UK\u2019s incredible chemistry community start to work with physicists and engineers on molecular quantum technologies, using their comprehensive understanding of molecular design and characterisation to release optimised molecular systems that unlock new technological opportunity.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n How could this research potentially benefit society?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Our work on chiral LEDs showed the disruptive potential of chirality in improving the performance of optoelectronic devices; particularly for high-efficiency, lower power displays.\u00a0 Quantum sensors could transform many areas of society, from construction and infrastructure to health monitoring. I\u2019d love to develop a low power (all optical) chiral quantum sensor capable of detecting magnetic fields \u2013 which could be used in everything from brain imaging to non-destructive safety testing \u2013 or a chiral quantum sensor that can detect the handedness of biomarkers.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Alongside technical outputs, the chiral crew are passionate about communicating the wonders of science with broad audiences. I\u2019ve written two children\u2019s picture books (Nano and Light, both with Walker) about science, and we take science shows to public festivals and workshops. This year we\u2019ve been lucky enough to join QuEST and talk molecules for quantum at Quantum Day<\/a>, the Great Exhibition Road Festival<\/a> and the British Science Festival. This April we launched our first quantum training programme for policymakers \u2013 Quantum Fundamentals<\/a> \u2013 an eight-week intro to quantum course that guided civil servants through different technologies and the quantum ecosystem. I\u2019m excited that we\u2019ll be starting it again in October 25!\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n What are the next steps in your research? Are there any challenges ahead?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Yes! Our team at Imperial are growing, with new Master\u2019s, PhD students, and postdocs starting this year. I\u2019m really excited about trying to translate our fundamental scientific discoveries into new technologies; particularly realising hybrid devices that benefit from the quantum properties of established materials (e.g. superconductors) and the unique tuneability of molecules. We\u2019re developing new, modular spectroscopic probes to understand (chiral) light-matter interactions and then using this understanding to build more precise sensing and imaging systems. Working at Imperial is amazing \u2013 QuEST provides a mechanism to identify new scientific and societal challenges, recruit wonderful students, and work with exciting collaborators in different departments. I\u2019m sure there will be challenges ahead (funding, visas, export control), but I know we\u2019ll have the support and advice we need to keep doing great science!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dr Jess Wade is an Assistant Professor in Functional Materials in the Department of Materials at Imperial College London. In this blog post, she shares more about her research as part of QuEST (Centre for Quantum Engineering, Science and Technology at Imperial College London). Jess’ research focuses on Chiral molecules and, she’s passionate about communicating […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1924,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"yoast_head":"\n