Published: July 24, 2019

Faculty Spotlight

John C. Price:Professor of Physics; Fellow, Center for Experiments on Quantum Materials; Chief Scientist, QMagnetics, LLC

John C. Price joined the physics department at the University of Colorado Boulder in 1989 and has since been at the forefront of innovation in his field, creating such equipment as the picoSpin. The picoSpin, which was ultimately purchased by Thermo Fisher Scientific, revolutionized the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy landscape by offering a low-cost alternative to otherwise expensive equipment.

Prior to his time at Boulder, Price also worked at Stanford University as a research associate.

Research interests and the Price Research Group

Price’s research predominantly focuses on quantum dynamics related to quantum materials and quantum information processing—or, in other words, “quantum simulations” that help explain the properties of a precisely defined quantum system. He does this by using solid-state NMR—particularly nuclear spin systems, which are thought to have the highest coherence quantum bits available.

In addition, Price also studies the acoustics of instruments in the flute family by looking at looking at their air-jet acoustic amplifiers.

Education

Price received his bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, in physics from Yale University, and his PhD in physics from Stanford University.

Quotable and notable

During his time at Boulder, Price created the picoSpin, a low-cost piece of NMR spectroscopy equipment, and sold it to Thermo Fisher Scientific. As well, over the course of his career, Price has won a number of fellowships for his innovative research, including with the American Physical Society, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.