Mark Siemens
University of Denver, CO·Physics
Light can probe matter in ways nothing else can. But it has limits.
- Fields
Physics
Biomedical Engineering
Neuroscience
- Topics
super-resolution microscopy
single-molecule localization microscopy
multiphoton microscopy
- Grants
- 2 known grants, through Jul 2029
What they work on
- Develop DeepSpiral, a super-resolution microscope that combines multiphoton excitation with single-molecule localization microscopy to image molecules at the nanometer scale up to 300 microns deep in living brain tissue.
- Use a dynamically structured, low-power illumination beam in DeepSpiral to achieve super-resolution while limiting tissue heating, and apply it to how brain structures change during learning.
- Build and optimize the first quantum stimulated Raman spectroscopy (QSRS) setup, using entangled photon pairs from spontaneous parametric downconversion, and measure how much entanglement enhances the signal.
- Apply QSRS terahertz spectroscopy to quantum materials, measuring phonons (crystal vibrations), metal-insulator transitions, 2D heterostructure electron states, single magnons and lipids in tissue.
More about the research
Inside thick tissue it scatters and blurs, and with ordinary light the weakest signals from matter are hard to detect. Two projects push past these limits with new optical techniques. One sees single molecules deep inside living brain tissue. The other uses quantum-entangled light to sense tiny vibrations in materials with far greater sensitivity.
Why it matters
Deep super-resolution imaging could reveal how the brain's molecular structures change during learning and memory. It could also be used to inspect layered computer chips and 2D materials. Quantum Raman sensing could enable non-destructive testing in the semiconductor industry, chemical and weapons detection, and quantum information technology. Because it can sense lipids in tissue, it could also help with cancer diagnostics and screening.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Sheng Liu
Clemson University, SC·Biophysics
Build a two-color, high-speed single-particle tracking microscope based on real-time tracking methods like MINFLUX, which can follow two different molecules at once with high spatial and time resolution.
Ajay Ram Srimath Kandada
Wake Forest University, NC·Physics·Early-career
Measure how excitons couple to lattice vibrations in 2D metal halide perovskites by recording noise in the amplitude and phase of the optical response after launching coherent phonons, to isolate how random lattice fluctuations drive anharmonicity and polaron formation.
Shaul Mukamel
University of California-Irvine, CA·Chemistry
Develop models and computational tools to predict and interpret spectroscopy signals made with entangled photons, combining electronic structure and quantum dynamics simulations.
The school
University of Denver: 4 labs on PI Pages, $56M a year on research, 138 research doctorates a year.
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