Brendan Sheehan | Department of Physics and Astronomy

Biography

I am an experimental condensed matter physicist with expertise in the use of magnetic resonance techniques to manipulate spins in the solid state for quantum information. I am presently working as a postdoctoral researcher in the Quantum Spin Laboratory (group of Prof. Chandrasekhar Ramanathan) at Dartmouth, where I study many-body spin dynamics of paramagnetic centers (13C nuclei, nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers, and substitutional nitrogen (P1) defect centers) in diamond, especially at high magnetic field. Prior to coming to Dartmouth, I performed my graduate work studying molecular nanomagnets (MNMs) for quantum information processing in the group of Prof. Jonathan R. Friedman at UMass Amherst. I examined several MNM systems with so-called 'spin clock transitions' which provide enhanced spin coherence times by shielding the central spin from the magnetic noise bath. My dissertation can be found here.

Education

Ph.D. University of Massachusetts Amherst

M.S. University of Massachusetts Amherst

B.A. Colgate University

Publications

Exploring Overlapping Mechanisms of Dynamic Nuclear Polarization in Type 1b HPHT diamond, B. C. Sheehan, M. Hubble, D. Shimon, and C. Ramanathan, Solid State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, 102076, (2026). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssnmr.2026.102076

Enhancing Coherence with a Clock Transition and Dynamical Decoupling in the Cr7Mn Molecular Nanomagnet, G. Chen, B. C. Sheehan, I. Nikolov, J. W. Logan, C. A. Collett, G. Joshi, G. A. Timco, J. E. Denhardt, K. R. Kittilstved, R. E. P. Winpenny, and J. R. Friedman, ACS Nanosci. Au 6 (2) 324–38, (2026). https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnanoscienceau.5c00192

Quantum Spin Dynamics of Clock Transitions in Molecular Nanomagnets and Defect-Rich Silica Glasses, B. C. Sheehan, PhD Dissertation (2025). https://doi.org/10.7275/4ta1-gt67

Clock Transitions Generated by Defects in Silica Glass, B. C. Sheehan, G. Chen, and J. R Friedman, Appl. Phys. Lett. 125, 254003 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0239469

Direct Spectroscopic Observation of Berry-Phase Interference in the Ni4 Single-Molecule Magnet, B. C. Sheehan, R. Kwark, C.A. Collett, T. A. Costa, R. A. Allão Cassaro, and J. R. Friedman, Phys. Rev. B 102, 224428 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.102.224428

Adjustable Coupling and In Situ Variable Frequency Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Probe with Loop-Gap Resonators for Spectroscopy up to X-band, G. Joshi, J. Kubasek, I. Nikolov, B. C. Sheehan, T. A. Costa, R. A. Allão Cassaro, and J. R. Friedman, Rev. Sci. Inst. 91, 023104 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5133074