Past members

Dr. Aravind P. Anthur obtained his PhD from IIT Madras, India in the year 2014 in the field of nonlinear optics and optical communication. He then worked in the optical communication industry in India before moving to Dublin, Ireland for post-doctoral research studies in the area of high speed optical communication systems based on optical comb sources and novel lasers. He later joined A*STAR to work on integrated non-linear optics that aims to make highly efficient non-linear devices for various applications like sensing, quantum optics and quantum communication.

Before joining IMRE, Zhuojun graduated from NUS with master’s degree in chemistry. Her bachelor’s degree in Engineering was completed from College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University. Her previous research experiences mainly focused on electrochemistry and photocatalysis study of layered materials including LDH and Bismuth Oxyhalides, the fabrication of noble nanoparticles as well as preparation of heterojunction of nanoparticles and 2D materials. Currently, she is helping with exfoliation and transfer of TMDCs for devices. In the spare time, she enjoys reading, hiking and watching sci-fi movies. 

Mr. Prithvi Gundlapalli graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Physics with a Specialisation in Quantum Technologies from the National University of Singapore in 2020 and plans to start his PhD in 2022. He has done various research attachments and his bachelor's thesis at the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, A*STAR, where he worked on quantum sensing with nitrogen vacancy centers in diamonds. He is currently a research specialist at the Institute where he is working on chip-based single photon detectors. His research interests are mainly in quantum sensing and in developing its practical applications. His hobbies include DJing, cycling, and playing with the numerous stray cats around his area, as well as convincing people that cats are better than dogs.

Dr. Yiding Lin received his Ph.D. (2019), M.Eng. (2015), and B.Eng. (Hons, 2011), all from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. In 2018, he was a visiting student in the Electronic Materials Research Group (Prof. Lionel C. Kimerling & Dr. Jurgen Michel) at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 2019, he was interviewed by Optica (formerly OSA) for his Ph.D. research on strained Ge photodetectors. From 2019-2021, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow with Prof. Joyce Poon at the Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics (Halle (Saale), Germany). He joined A*STAR in Dec 2021 for the research and development of visible-light integrated single photon detectors and systems. His current research interests lie in integrated photonics at visible, near- and short-wave-infrared wavelengths, especially integrated group-IV (Si, Ge(Sn)) photodetectors. He was a recipient of SMART Graduate Fellowship (Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology) and was one of the valedictorians of NTU Convocation 2020. In his spare time, he likes playing soccer, travelling, reading, and spending time with family.

Dr. Desmond Toa completed his B.A. in Physics from UC Berkeley and Ph.D. in Chemistry from Princeton University in 2011 and 2019 respectively. At Princeton, his main research revolves around vibronic quantum coherences in algal light-harvesting complexes using ultrafast two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy and quantum chemical simulations under Prof. Gregory Scholes’ supervision. His current research interest involves the following two topics: (1) spontaneous parametric down-conversion from aperiodically-poled nonlinear crystals and (2) expanding end-user applications in the chemical and biomedical industries for our quantum hyperspectral microscopes. He enjoys meditating, reading random pieces of knowledge, especially those pertaining to CPU design, and Chinese novels.

Dr. Yang Hongzhi received his master's degree in laser optics from Shandong University, China in 2007. In 2012, he received his PhD degree in nonlinear optics from the physics department of the National University of Singapore. His current research interests include optical measurement and instrumentation, IR imaging and spectroscopy. During his leisure time, Hongzhi enjoys reading, watching movies, listening to music, and travelling.

Dr. Leonid Krivitsky obtained his MSc (cum laude) in 2003 from the department of Physics, Lomonosov Moscow State University. He obtained his PhD in 2005 from the same institution. In 2005-2008 he held postdoctoral positions at National Metrology Institute (Turin, Italy), Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (Erlangen, Germany), and Technical University of Denmark (Lyngby, Denmark). He is the recipient of several prestigious fellowships, including the Alexander Von Humboldt fellowship, Hans Christian Oersted fellowship, and an A-STAR Investigatorship. He was leading the Quantum Technologies for Engineering program at the Agency for Science, Technology, and Research. His scientific interests include quantum metrology and sensing, and quantum information processing.

Sean is a mechanical engineer by training, who worked in R&D with a focus on product and mechanism design. He is experienced with prototyping, additive manufacturing as well as various fabrication processes. In 2010, he stumbled into the world of quantum at the Centre for Quantum Technologies in National University of Singapore (CQT, NUS) where he helped built a quantum light source housed in a CubeSat that was successfully launched and operated in space. In his recent endeavour, he supported the pioneers of topological qubits development at Microsoft Quantum Material lab in Copenhagen, Denmark. There he designed and integrated UHV and cryogenics systems for material research and growth. Apart from work, Sean participates in cycling, swimming and hiking, dragging his mischievous children along.