Mikael Backlund

Mikael Backlund is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, affiliated with the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. His research focuses on advancing optical microscopy and quantum sensing techniques to study nanoscale systems in chemistry, materials science, and biology. He joined UIUC in 2020 after postdoctoral work at Harvard University and holds affiliations with the Illinois Quantum Information Science and Technology Center (IQUIST) and the Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology (CBQB).

Backlund earned his B.S. in Chemistry from UC Berkeley (2010) and his Ph.D. in Chemical Physics from Stanford University (2016), supported by the Robert and Marvel Kirby Fellowship. His postdoctoral research at Harvard explored quantum diamond sensors and opto-magnetic imaging.

His lab develops cutting-edge methods like nanoscale magnetic resonance microscopy using diamond NV centers and quantum metrology approaches for single-molecule imaging. Research areas include quantum-inspired super-resolution, biophysical systems analysis, and condensed matter physics. Projects bridge experimental and theoretical work, emphasizing precision and innovation.

Backlund has been recognized with prestigious awards including the NSF CAREER Award (2025), Beckman Young Investigator Award (2023), and Scialog Fellowship (2025). His work intersects quantum science, biophysics, and materials chemistry, with applications in both fundamental and applied research.