Owain joined the group in October 2026 as a PhD student funded through a UCL EPSRC Landscape Award (UELA). His project, Mapping the Quantum Landscape of 2D Materials, One Atom at a Time, investigates the atomic-scale structure and quantum properties of defects in two-dimensional van der Waals materials, which can host localised quantum states of interest for qubits, single-photon sources, and quantum sensors.
His research uses ultrahigh vacuum cryogenic scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) and spectroscopy to image and probe individual atomic defects, correlating their atomic structure with electronic and spin-resolved behaviour. Owain will conduct research visits to the group of Akshay Singh at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, whose work focuses on the optical properties of defects, as part of a UCL–IISc joint funding scheme in Collaborative Research in Quantum Science and Technology 2026–2027. There, he will develop sample preparation methods and measure the photoluminescence properties of defects in 2D materials.