Dr. John Abendroth, the recipient of a prestigious ERC Starting Grant, has joined the Adolphe Merkle Institute (AMI) at the University of Fribourg as an Assistant Professor.  A physical chemist, Abendroth conducts cutting-edge research at the intersection of quantum sensing, chemistry, and biology.

Previously a senior researcher at Zurich’s Federal Institute of Technology (ETHZ) with a Swiss National Science Foundation Ambizione Grant, Abendroth has held postdoctoral positions in physics at ETHZ and in materials science and engineering at Stanford University. He earned his PhD in physical chemistry at the University of California, Los Angeles after completing a BSc in chemistry at the University of Florida.

“I’m thrilled to join the Adolphe Merkle Institute, where my research on quantum sensing at the single-molecule level can meet world-class expertise in soft and bio-inspired materials,” said Abendroth. “AMI’s interdisciplinary environment is the perfect place to explore how spin and chirality-related effects come together in new materials, and I’m excited to turn fundamental spin chemistry into new ideas for future technologies.”

“Welcoming John Abendroth to the Adolphe Merkle Institute is a fantastic opportunity,” added AMI Director Prof. Ullrich Steiner. “His expertise in diamond‑based spin detection and molecular chirality will open up new interdisciplinary avenues here at the University of Fribourg. These will range from investigating fundamental spin chemistry to envisioning future technologies inspired by nature’s own nanoscale designs. John’s research will further reinforce the bio-inspired material research profile of our faculty, contributing to the legacy of the NCCR Bio-inspired Materials.”

Quantum engineering

Abendroth’s research primarily utilizes nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond. These fluorescent defects can act as nanoscale probes for detecting tiny magnetic fields, like those produced from single electrons. Abendroth’s ERC project itself focuses on using NV centers to probe CISS (chiral‑induced spin selectivity), which describes spin-dependent interactions with twisted, handed (or chiral) molecules.

Electrons behave like tiny spinning tops that are always in motion, and behave like little magnets, categorized by physicists as either "spin-up" or "spin-down." In practice, it is a purely quantum property, not a literal spinning motion, but it affects how particles respond to magnetic fields and how they can arrange themselves in atoms and materials. With CISS, when electrons travel through a chiral molecule, one spin direction (like “spin‑up”) passes more easily than the other, so the outgoing electrons are mostly all spinning the same way. In everyday terms, a chiral molecule acts like a tiny one‑way turnstile that prefers one kind of spin, turning an ordinary electric current into a spin‑polarized one.

Abendroth’s research focuses on developing NV centers as a novel tool to improve our fundamental understanding of the rules of CISS and apply this knowledge to investigate where it shows up in biology. This ties in with the “Quantum Compass” theory of how migratory birds navigate. Scientists have hypothesized that when light enters the eye of a migratory bird, it interacts with special photoresponsive proteins and triggers the formation of radical pairs.

A radical pair is a short‑lived duo of unpaired electrons confined in space created by the absorption of light. Because the two unpaired electrons “know about each other” quantum‑mechanically, their spins can change together and be influenced by magnetic fields, which in turn can change what chemical products the pair eventually turns into. If these tiny "bar magnets" are sensitive to the Earth’s magnetosphere, a migrating bird could essentially "see" magnetic north.

By decoding how molecular handedness in a protein influences these spins, this research could eventually reveal whether and how nature may take advantage of CISS for life processes, ultimately at the level of animal behavior.

CISS itself could underpin a number of technologies if it can be controlled reliably at scale, such as smaller, lower‑power spin‑based memory and sensors, more efficient fuel cells, metal–air batteries, and CO₂‑to‑fuel processes, or the detection and separation of left vs right‑handed molecules in pharmaceutical production.