Chris Perrella

Research Interests

Nonlinear Optics and Spectroscopy Optical Physics Optics Photonics and Electro-Optical Engineering Quantum Optics

Dr Chris Perrella

Grant-Funded Researcher (B)

School of Biological Sciences

College of Science

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.

My research aims to push the limits of precision measurement for both fundamental and applied research. Liaising with industry and defence has made my research have real-world impact through development of measurement devices for use outside the laboratory. I have supervised the development of a number of experiments: compact high-stability optical clock, an optical magnetometer, and high-resolution molecular spectroscopy, and atomic spectroscopy within hollow core fibre. I'm now applying this knowledge to a biological setting to extract maximum information from biological systems utilising optical techniques.I was awarded my PhD almost in 2014 from the University of Western Australia. After submission of my thesis, I accepted a University Research Associate position at the University of Adelaide within the Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS).

Please see my research group's website.

Work I'm currently working on:

  • Optical Trapping: We develop novel trapping techniques to observe, measure and analyse biomechanical properties in the fertilised embryo to non-invasively quantify embryo quality and health
  • Speckle Measurements: Light scattered off a surface resultant interference pattern has a grainy appearance which we call speckle. This speckle is often considered as a loss of any information contained in the laser light. However, the speckle is actually rich in information about both the laser properties, environment, and the scatterer. We have used this phenomenon to perform highly accurate measurements of laser parameters, such as attometre-resolved wavelength measurement and characterisation of the orbital angular momentum and polarisation of the light beam.
  • Low Light Imaging: Imaging of biological samples typically requires low light levels to ensure the sample is not damaged. We are exploring what the best methods are to create high resolution and high signal-to-noise images in low-light conditions.

Previous projects I've worked on:

  • Compact High-Stability Optical Clock: I led the development of an optical clock based on a two-photon transition within rubidium which is performing at the same level as the best commercially available frequency standard (the Hydrogen maser), while being 10-fold smaller and lighter. This is possible through using two different colour photons to excite the two-photon transition, leading to an increase excitation efficiency of a million-fold. This technology is breaking the nexus between size, weight and performance of optical clocks.
  • Optical Magnetometry: We developed two optical magnetometers for defence and industry applications. I have pioneered techniques to greatly increase the bandwidth of DC atomic magnetometers broadening their practical applications. These magnetometers have been tested outside the lab in real world environments.
  • High-Resolution Molecular Spectroscopy: We are developing a trace gas spectrometer based on a laser frequency comb light source and high precision absorption measurement. We have demonstrated a measurement accuracy of 1% and a precision of 0.04% for measurement of the number density of the common isotopes of Carbon Dioxide. We are applying this to biological samples, to measure Carbon Dioxide produced from yeast, leading up to measurements of biomarkers in exhaled breath for medical diagnostic applications.
  • Non-Linear Spectroscopy: I was the first to show strong light-light interactions within large-diameter hollow-core fibre, achieved through exciting a two-photon atomic transition of the atoms. This has been utilised to perform quantum memories and frequency conversion within hollow-core fibre for quantum information processing.

Date Position Institution name
2013 - 2025 University Postdoctoral Fellow University of Adelaide

Date Type Title Institution Name Country Amount
2023 Award ANZOS Mid-Career Prize Australian and New Zealand Optical Society (ANZOS) Australia -
2023 Award ANZOS John Love Award Australian and New Zealand Optical Society (ANZOS) Australia -
2023 Recognition Commendation Department of Defence Australia -
2023 Award Measurement Impact Awards National Measurement Institute Australia -
2023 Award People’s Choice Award National Measurement Institute Australia -
2023 Award Tall Poppy Award Australian Institute of Policy and Science Australia -
2023 Award Best Outreach Activity Award Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing Australia -
2022 Recognition 2022 OPTICA Senior Member OPTICA United States -
2022 Award Best Industry Collaboration Award Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing Australia -
2019 Award Best Poster Prize, Quantum Sensing & Magnetometry Physikzentrum, Bad Honnef Germany -
2011 Scholarship Australian Postgraduate Award Scholarship Australian Government Australia -
2009 Scholarship University Postgraduate Award Scholarship University of Western Australia Australia -

Date Institution name Country Title
2009 - 2013 University of Western Australia Australia PhD
2008 - 2008 University of Western Australia Australia B.Sc. (Hons)
2005 - 2007 University of Western Australia Australia B.Sc.

Year Citation
2025 Campugan, C., Perrella, C., Lim, M., Tan, T. C. Y., Schartner, E., Arita, Y., . . . Dunning, K. (2025). Microrheology of the cumulus-oocyte matrix using optical tweezers. Journal of Physics: Photonics, 7(2), 10 pages.
DOI Scopus1 WoS1
2025 Peterkovic, Z., Upadhya, A., Perrella, C., Bajraktarevic, A., Bautista Gonzalez, R. E., Lim, M., . . . Dholakia, K. (2025). Optimizing image capture for low-light widefield quantitative fluorescence microscopy. APL Photonics, 10(3), 031102-1-031102-28.
DOI Scopus3 WoS3
2025 Ahern, E. J., Scholten, S. K., Locke, C., Hébert, N. B., White, B., Luiten, A. N., & Perrella, C. (2025). Tailoring the stability of a two-color, two-photon rubidium frequency standard. Physical Review Applied, 23(4), 044025-1-044025-14.
DOI Scopus3 WoS2
2025 Rowland, J. A., Perrella, C., Offer, R. F., Luiten, A. N., Sparkes, B. M., & Weinhold, T. J. (2025). Characterization of near-infrared to telecom frequency conversion in a rubidium-filled hollow-core photonic-crystal fiber. Optics Express, 33(8), 18076-18088.
DOI Scopus2 WoS2
2025 Monteiro, G. B., Lim, M., Tan, T. C. Y., Upadhya, A., Liang, Z., Agnew, B., . . . Dholakia, K. (2025). A Neuromorphic Camera for Tracking Passive and Active Matter with Lower Data Throughput. Laser and Photonics Reviews, 19(19), e00106-1-e00106-10.
DOI
2025 Hilton, A. P., Offer, R. F., Klantsataya, E., Scholten, S. K., Bourbeau Hébert, N., Billington, C. J., . . . Luiten, A. N. (2025). Demonstration of a mobile optical clock ensemble at sea. Nature Communications, 16(1), 11 pages.
DOI Scopus1 WoS2
2025 Anonymous. (2025). Characterizing the complete thermodynamic state of a gas using a frequency comb spectrometer. Physical Review Applied, 24(1), 014037-1-014037-11.
DOI WoS1
2025 Cochrane, M., Scholten, S. K., Perrella, C., van den Hengel, A., Dholakia, K., Luiten, A. N., . . . Verjans, J. W. (2025). CO2 Isotopologue Quantification Using Direct Frequency Comb Spectroscopy and Machine Learning. ACS Omega, 10(43), 51443-51454.
DOI
2024 Perrella, C., & Dholakia, K. (2024). A material change for ultra-high precision force sensing. Light: Science & Applications, 13(1), 272-1-272-3.
DOI Scopus2 WoS2
2024 Rowland, J., Perrella, C., Luiten, A. N., Gartman, R., Kaczmarek, K. T., Nunn, J., & Sparkes, B. M. (2024). High-bandwidth warm-atom quantum memory using hollow-core photonic crystal fibers. Physical Review Applied, 21(1), 9 pages.
DOI Scopus5 WoS5
2024 Whitaker-Lockwood, J. A., Scholten, S. K., Karim, F., Luiten, A. N., & Perrella, C. (2024). Comb spectroscopy of CO₂ produced from microbial metabolism. Biomedical Optics Express, 15(3), 1553-1-1553-18.
DOI Scopus2 WoS3 Europe PMC2
2024 Karim, F., Scholten, S. K., Perrella, C., & Luiten, A. N. (2024). Rapid generation of massive thermodynamic datasets using frequency comb spectroscopy. Journal of Chemical Physics, 160(10), 104304-1-104304-15.
DOI Scopus2 WoS2
2023 Hamilton, R., Roberts, B. M., Scholten, S. K., Locke, C., Luiten, A. N., Ginges, J. S. M., & Perrella, C. (2023). Experimental and Theoretical Study of Dynamic Polarizabilities in the 5S1/2–5D5/2 Clock Transition in Rubidium-87 and Determination of Electric Dipole Matrix Elements. Physical Review Applied, 19(5), 054059-1-054059-10.
DOI Scopus6 WoS6
2023 Hunter, D., Perrella, C., McWilliam, A., McGilligan, J. P., Mrozowski, M., Ingleby, S. J., . . . Riis, E. (2023). Free-induction-decay magnetic field imaging with a microfabricated Cs vapor cell. Optics Express, 31(20), 33582.
DOI Scopus8 Europe PMC1
2022 Li, R., Perrella, C., & Luiten, A. (2022). Repumping atomic media for an enhanced sensitivity atomic magnetometer. Optics Express, 30(18), 31752-31765.
DOI Scopus14 WoS14 Europe PMC4
2022 Li, R., Perrella, C., & Luiten, A. (2022). Enhancing the sensitivity of atomic magnetometer with a multi-passed probe light. Applied Physics Letters, 121(17), 172402.
DOI Scopus7 WoS6
2021 Rowland, J., Perrella, C., Light, P., Sparkes, B. M., & Luiten, A. N. (2021). Using an injection-locked VCSEL to produce Fourier-transform-limited optical pulses. Optics Letters, 46(2), 412-415.
DOI Scopus4 WoS4
2021 Bourbeau Hebert, N., Scholten, S., Hilton, A., Offer, R., Perrella, C., & Luiten, A. (2021). Orthogonalizing the control of frequency combs for optical clockworks. Optics Letters, 46(19), 4972-4975.
DOI Scopus4 WoS4 Europe PMC2
2020 Wilson, N., Perrella, C., Anderson, R., Luiten, A., & Light, P. (2020). Wide-bandwidth atomic magnetometry via instantaneous-phase retrieval. Physical Review Research, 2(1), 013213-1-013213-9.
DOI Scopus32 WoS27
2020 Karim, F., Scholten, S. K., Perrella, C., & Luiten, A. N. (2020). Ultrahigh-resolution direct-frequency-comb spectrometer. Physical Review Applied, 14(2), 024087-1-024087-8.
DOI Scopus11 WoS11
2020 Li, R., Baynes, F. N., Luiten, A. N., & Perrella, C. (2020). Continuous High-Sensitivity and High-Bandwidth Atomic Magnetometer. Physical Review Applied, 14(6), 1-10.
DOI Scopus67 WoS64
2019 Hilton, A. P., Perrella, C., Luiten, A. N., & Light, P. S. (2019). Dual-color magic-wavelength trap for suppression of light shifts in atoms. Physical Review Applied, 11(2), 1-7.
DOI Scopus9 WoS9
2019 Wilson, N., Light, P., Luiten, A., & Perrella, C. (2019). Ultrastable Optical Magnetometry. Physical Review Applied, 11(4), 9 pages.
DOI Scopus27 WoS27
2019 Griesser, H. P., Perrella, C., Light, P. S., & Luiten, A. N. (2019). Spectral broadening of a single-photon transition in the evanescent field of an exposed-core fiber. Physical Review Applied, 11(5), 1-8.
DOI Scopus3 WoS3
2019 Scholten, S., Perrella, C., Anstie, J., White, R., & Luiten, A. (2019). Accurate optical number density measurement of ¹²CO₂ and ¹³CO₂ with direct frequency comb spectroscopy. Physical Review Applied, 12(3), 034045-1-034045-6.
DOI Scopus9 WoS11
2019 Perrella, C., Light, P. S., Anstie, J. D., Baynes, F. N., White, R. T., & Luiten, A. N. (2019). Dichroic two-photon rubidium frequency standard. Physical Review Applied, 12(5), 054063-1-054063-6.
DOI Scopus31 WoS27
2019 Mik, J. L., Sparkes, B., Perrella, C., Light, P., Ng, S., Luiten, A., & Ottaway, D. (2019). High-transmission fiber ring resonator for spectral filtering of master oscillator power amplifiers. OSA Continuum, 2(8), 2487-2495.
DOI Scopus4 WoS4
2018 Wilson, N., Hébert, N., Perrella, C., Light, P., Genest, J., Pustelny, S., & Luiten, A. (2018). Simultaneous Observation of Nonlinear Magneto-Optical Rotation in the Temporal and Spectral Domains with an Electro-Optic Frequency Comb. Physical Review Applied, 10(3), 11 pages.
DOI Scopus13 WoS14
2018 Hilton, A., Perrella, C., Benabid, F., Sparkes, B., Luiten, A., & Light, P. (2018). High-efficiency cold-atom transport into a waveguide trap. Physical Review Applied, 10(4), 044034-1-044034-9.
DOI Scopus19 WoS19
2018 Perrella, C., Light, P., Vahid, S., Benabid, F., & Luiten, A. (2018). Engineering photon-photon interactions within rubidium-filled waveguides. Physical Review Applied, 9(4), 044001-1-044001-9.
DOI Scopus11 WoS10
2018 Dakka, M. A., Tsiminis, G., Glover, R. D., Perrella, C., Moffatt, J., Spooner, N. A., . . . Luiten, A. N. (2018). Laser-based metastable krypton generation. Physical Review Letters, 121(9), 6 pages.
DOI Scopus23 WoS24 Europe PMC3
2018 Scholten, S. K., Perrella, C., Anstie, J. D., White, R. T., Al-Ashwal, W., Hebert, N. B., . . . Luiten, A. N. (2018). Number-density measurements of CO₂ in real time with an optical frequency comb for high accuracy and precision. Physical Review Applied, 9(5), 054043-1-054043-8.
DOI Scopus11 WoS10
2016 Warren-Smith, S., André, R., Perrella, C., Dellith, J., & Bartelt, H. (2016). Direct core structuring of microstructured optical fibers using focused ion beam milling. Optics Express, 24(1), 378-387.
DOI Scopus28 WoS27 Europe PMC5
2016 Light, P., Hilton, A., White, R., Perrella, C., Anstie, J., Hartnett, J., . . . Luiten, A. (2016). Bidirectional microwave and optical signal dissemination. Optics Letters, 41(5), 1014-1017.
DOI Scopus3 WoS3 Europe PMC1
2016 Anstie, J., Perrella, C., Light, P., & Luiten, A. (2016). Coherent radio-frequency detection for narrowband direct comb spectroscopy. Optics Express, 24(4), 4088-4096.
DOI Scopus1 WoS1 Europe PMC1
2016 Perrella, C., Light, P., Milburn, T., Kielpinski, D., Stace, T., & Luiten, A. (2016). Anomalous two-photon spectral features in warm rubidium vapor. Physical Review A - Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics, 94(3), 033403-1-033403-8.
DOI
2016 Hébert, N., Michaud-Belleau, V., Perrella, C., Truong, G., Anstie, J., Stace, T., . . . Luiten, A. (2016). Real-time dynamic atomic spectroscopy using electro-optic frequency combs. Physical Review Applied, 6(4), 044012-1-044012-9.
DOI Scopus21 WoS18
2015 Perrella, C., Griesser, H., Light, P., Kostecki, R., Stace, T., Ebendorff-Heidepriem, H., . . . Luiten, A. (2015). Demonstration of an exposed-core fiber platform for two photon rubidium spectroscopy. Physical review applied, 4(1), 014013-1-014013-7.
DOI Scopus10 WoS9
2014 Akulshin, A., Perrella, C., Truong, G., Luiten, A., Budker, D., & McLean, R. (2014). Linewidth of collimated wavelength-converted emission in Rb vapour. Applied Physics B, 117(1), 203-209.
DOI Scopus16 WoS12
2013 Perrella, C., Light, P., Anstie, J., Benabid, F., Stace, T., White, A., & Luiten, A. (2013). High-efficiency cross-phase modulation in a gas-filled waveguide. Physical Review A, 88(1), 1-5.
DOI Scopus31 WoS31
2013 Perrella, C., Light, P., Anstie, J., Baynes, F., & Luiten, A. (2013). Interferometric selection of frequency comb modes. Applied Physics B-Lasers and Optics, 113(2), 291-297.
DOI Scopus1 WoS1
2013 Perrella, C., Light, P., Anstie, J., Baynes, F., Benabid, F., & Luiten, A. (2013). Two-color rubidium fiber frequency standard. Optics Letters, 38(12), 2122-2124.
DOI Scopus15 WoS15 Europe PMC1
2013 Light, P., Perrella, C., & Luiten, A. (2013). Phase-sensitive imaging of cold atoms at the shot-noise limit. Applied Physics Letters, 102(17), 1-5.
DOI Scopus5 WoS5
2013 Perrella, C., Light, P., Anstie, J., Stace, T., Benabid, F., & Luiten, A. (2013). High-resolution two-photon spectroscopy of rubidium within a confined geometry. Physical Review A, 87(1), 1-5.
DOI Scopus33 WoS34
2012 Akulshin, A., Perrella, C., Truong, G., McLean, R., & Luiten, A. (2012). Frequency evaluation of collimated blue light generated by wave mixing in Rb vapour. Journal of Physics B-Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics, 45(24), 1-7.
DOI Scopus23 WoS23
2012 Perrella, C., Light, P., Stace, T., Benabid, F., & Luiten, A. (2012). High-resolution optical spectroscopy in a hollow-core photonic crystal fiber. Physical Review A: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, 85(1), 012518-1-012518-5.
DOI Scopus18 WoS18

Year Citation
2023 Locke, C. R., Ng, S., Scarabel, J., O'Connor, M., Luiten, A. N., Scholten, S. K., . . . Perrella, C. (2023). Portable Optical Atomic Clock Based on a Dichroic Two-Photon Transition in Rubidium. In Proceedings - 2023 Joint Conference of the European Frequency and Time Forum and IEEE International Frequency Control Symposium, EFTF/IFCS 2023 (pp. 1-2). Online: IEEE.
DOI Scopus3
2020 Karim, F., Scholten, S. K., Perrella, C., & Luiten, A. N. (2020). Measuring Thermodynamic Properties of Gas Molecules with a High-Resolution Frequency Comb Spectrometer. In 2020 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics Pacific Rim, CLEO-PR 2020 - Proceedings (pp. 1-2). online: OSA/IEEE.
DOI
2019 Wilson, N., Li, R., Perrella, C., Light, P., Anderson, R., & Luiten, A. (2019). A high-bandwidth atomic magnetometer. In Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering Vol. 11200 (pp. 1-2). online: SPIE.
DOI Scopus1 WoS1
2019 Scholten, S. K., Whitaker-Lockwood, J., Perrella, C., Karim, F., & Luiten, A. N. (2019). High-resolution molecular spectroscopy and biological applications. In Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering Vol. 11200 (pp. 1-3). online: SPIE.
DOI
2019 Rowland, J., Light, P. S., Luiten, A. N., Perrella, C., & Sparkes, B. M. (2019). Injection locking of a pulsed VCSEL. In Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering Vol. 11200 (pp. 1-3). online: SPIE.
DOI
2018 Truong, G., Scholten, S., Karim, F., Anstie, J., Perrella, C., Light, P., . . . Luiten, A. (2018). Measuring temperature with atoms and molecules. In Proceedings of the CLEO: Science and Innovations 2018 Vol. Part F94-CLEO_SI 2018 (pp. 1-2). San Jose, California: OSA Publishing.
DOI
2018 Heffernan, L., Holmes, Z., Inglis, J., Shearer, N., Shaddock, D., Roberts, L., . . . Luiten, A. (2018). Target acquisition and tracking of extremely long distance targets using multiple risley prism systems. In Proceedings of the International Astronautical Congress, IAC Vol. 2018-October (pp. 5225-5232). USA: International Astronautical Federation, IAF.
2014 Perrella, C., Anstie, J., Light, P., Benabid, F., White, A., & Luiten, A. (2014). Hollow-core fibre frequency standard. In Proceedings 2014 IEEE International Frequency Control Symposium (pp. 61). Taipei, Taiwan: IEEE Computer Society.
DOI
2014 Perrella, C., Anstie, J., Light, P., Benabid, F., Stace, T., White, A. G., & Luiten, A. N. (2014). Fibre-atom optics: a platform for frequency stabilization and quantum information applications. In Proceedings of the 2014 OptoElectronics and Communication Conference and Australian Conference on Optical Fibre Technology (OECC/ACOFT 2014) (pp. 656-657). Melbourne, Victoria: IEEE Computer Society.
2012 Stace, T., Perrella, C., Light, P., Benabid, F., & Luiten, A. (2012). Observation of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in Rb-filled hollow-core fibre. In Research in Optical Sciences, as publshed in Optics InfoBase Conference Papers (pp. QW3B.3-1-QW3B.3-3). Berlin, Germany: Optical Society of America.
DOI
2011 Perrella, C., Light, P., Luiten, A., Benabid, F., & Stace, T. (2011). High resolution optical spectroscopy in hollow core fibre for use in atomic clocks. In Proceedings of the International Quantum Electronics Conference and Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics Pacific Rim 2011 (pp. 851-853). Sydney, Australia: Optical Society of America.
DOI
2010 Lurie, A., Locke, C. R., Perrella, C., Light, P. S., Benabid, F., & Luiten, A. N. (2010). Towards a compact optical fibre clock. In CPEM Digest Conference on Precision Electromagnetic Measurements (pp. 16-17). Daejeon, SOUTH KOREA: IEEE.
DOI Scopus1 WoS1

Year Citation
- Campugan, C. A., Perrella, C., & Dholakia, K. (n.d.). Raw Data associated with Microrheology of the Cumulus-Oocyte Matrix using Optical Tweezer.
DOI
- Perrella, C. (n.d.). Raw Data associated with Figure 1b.
DOI
- Perrella, C. (n.d.). Raw Data associated with Figure 1c.
DOI
- Perrella, C., & Scholten, S. (n.d.). Characterising the Complete Thermodynamic State of a Gas using a Frequency Comb Spectrometer - Data for Figures 2 - 11.
DOI

Year Citation
- Perrella, C., Sparkes, B., Janvier, E., & Lincoln, P. (n.d.). Laser Radio.
DOI

Year Citation
2025 Monteiro, G. B., Lim, M., Tan, T. C. Y., Upadhya, A., Liang, Z., Agnew, B., . . . Dholakia, K. (2025). A neuromorphic camera for tracking passive and active matter with lower
data throughput.
2024 Rowland, J. A., Perrella, C., Offer, R. F., Luiten, A. N., Sparkes, B. M., & Weinhold, T. J. (2024). Characterization of near-infrared to telecom frequency conversion in a
rubidium-filled hollow-core photonic-crystal fiber.
2024 Ahern, E. J., Scholten, S. K., Locke, C., Bourbeau-Hebert, N., White, B., Luiten, A. N., & Perrella, C. (2024). Tailoring the Stability of a Two-Color, Two-Photon Rubidium Frequency
Standard.
2024 Peterkovic, Z., Upadhya, A., Perrella, C., Bajraktarevic, A., Gonzalez, R. B., Lim, M., . . . Dholakia, K. (2024). Optimising image capture for low-light widefield quantitative
fluorescence microscopy.
2024 Hilton, A. P., Offer, R. F., Klantsataya, E., Scholten, S. K., Hébert, N. B., Billington, C., . . . Luiten, A. N. (2024). Demonstration of a Mobile Optical Clock Ensemble at Sea.
2023 Hunter, D., Perrella, C., McWilliam, A., McGilligan, J. P., Mrozowski, M., Ingleby, S. J., . . . Riis, E. (2023). Free-induction-decay magnetic field imaging with a microfabricated Cs
vapor cell.
2022 Hamilton, R., Roberts, B. M., Scholten, S. K., Locke, C., Luiten, A. N., Ginges, J. S. M., & Perrella, C. (2022). Experimental and theoretical study of dynamic polarizabilities in the
$5S_{1/2}$-$5D_{5/2}$ clock transition in rubidium-87 and determination of E1
matrix elements.
2018 Hilton, A. P., Perrella, C., Luiten, A. N., & Light, P. S. (2018). Dual-colour magic-wavelength trap for suppression of light shifts in
atoms.
2013 Akulshin, A., Perrella, C., Truong, G. -W., Luiten, A., Budker, D., & McLean, R. (2013). Linewidth of collimated wavelength-converted emission in Rb vapours.
2012 Akulshin, A., Perrella, C., Truong, G. -W., McLean, R., & Luiten, A. (2012). Frequency evaluation of collimated blue light generated by wave mixing
in Rb vapour.

Over the last 6 years, this now means that he has had 21 awarded grant applications worth $3.0M, with $757k as Lead Investigator and $2.2M as Co-Investigator.

Date Project Investigators Funding Body Amount

2020 – 2021

Demonstration of a Two-Photon Atomic Clock with Light Shift Suppression using Two-Colour Magic Wavelengths

C. Perrella, A.N. Luiten, S. Scholten, J. Ginges

Asian Office of Aerospace R&D, Air Force Office of Scientific Research

$131,081 

2020 – 2023

Prototyping a Low-Noise Scalar Magnetometer

R. Li, C. Perrella, A.N. Luiten

CSIRO - Science & Industry Endowment Fund, STEM+ Business Research Fellowship

$590,987

2020 – 2023

BreathELISA: Breath analysis for detection of disease

A.N. Luiten, C. Perrella, J. Verjans, R. Yazbek

Asian Office of Aerospace R&D, Air Force Office of Scientific Research

$102,324 

2019

Development of a low-noise scalar magnetometer

C. Perrella, R. Li

University Research Contract

$83,100

2019 – 2020  

Demonstrating a Magic Interrogation Approach for a Two-Photon Atomic Clock

A.N. Luiten, C. Perrella

Asian Office of Aerospace R&D, Air Force Office of Scientific Research

$138,187

2019 – 2021

Packaging a Quantum Magnetometer Array for Anti-Submarine Warfare

A.N. Luiten, C. Perrella, P. Light

Defence Science and Technology Group – NGTF - Quantum Technologies

$455,925

2019 – 2020

Quantum Simulations with Stationary Light in Hollow Fibres

B. Sparkes, A.N. Luiten, C. Perrella, P. Light, J. Hedger, P. Windpassinger, P. Islam, W. Li

Australia-Germany Joint Research Co-operation Scheme

$22,480

2019

Development of a low-noise magnetometer

A.N. Luiten, C. Perrella

Innovation Connections - Department of Industry, Innovation and Science

$100,000

2018

High-performance optical clock for next-generation precision timing

C. Perrella

Bridging Grant - Global Connections Fund

$50,000

2018

Advanced Fibre Optic Magnetometer for Anti-Submarine Warfare

A.N. Luiten, P. Light, C. Perrella

Defence Science and Technology (DST) Group

$100,000

2017

High-performance optical clock for next-generation precision timing

C. Perrella

Priming Grant - The Global Connections Fund

$7,000

2017

High-Performance Optical Clock for Local Time References and UAV applications

C. Perrella

Competitive Evaluation Research Agreement (CERA) - Defence Science and Technology (DST) Group's 

$100,000

2016

Advanced Fibre Optic Magnetometer for Anti-Submarine Warfare

A.N. Luiten, P. Light, C. Perrella

Defence Science and Technology (DST) Group

$100,000

2015

Demonstrating Spatially Resolved Corrosion Detection

C. Perrella, P. Light, R. Kostecki

IPAS Pilot Project - The Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS)

$13,350

2014

UV-guiding silica hollow-core fibre for biological sensing

P. Light, C. Perrella

IPAS Pilot Project - The Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS)

$15,000

2014

Micro-Machining Exposed Core Fibre: Taking Sensing to the Next Level

C. Perrella, C. Ironside, P. Light

IPAS Pilot Project - The Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS)

$17,000

2013

High-Performance Portable Optical Clock

C. Perrella

Commercial Accelerator Scheme – Adelaide Research & Innovation

$100,000

2013

High-Performance Portable Optical Clock

C. Perrella

Dennis Harwood Grant – IPAS

$25,000

 

I am passionate about communicating the fun and excitement of science to the next generation of scientists. I strive to provide students with the best possible educational experience and outcome.

Recent teaching:

  • 2nd Year – Physics IIB – Optics (2020 - 2022)
  • 3rd Year – Optics and Photonics III (2019 – 2024)
  • Honours Year – Non-Linear Optics (2020 – 2024)

Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
2024 Co-Supervisor Enhancing the measurement precision of speckle metrology using quantum light Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Alexander Trowbridge
2023 Co-Supervisor Enhanced optical microscopy for biology using quantum and classical approaches. Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Zane Quess Peterkovic
2023 Co-Supervisor High precision metrology using laser speckle. Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Gabriel Britto Monteiro
2023 Co-Supervisor Studies of levitated optomechanics using trapped particles Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Aman Anil Punse
2021 Principal Supervisor Compact Clock for Small Satellite Applications: Protocol Development for Increased Stability Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Emily Jane Ahern

Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
2020 - 2025 Principal Supervisor Developing High-Sensitivity Techniques for Frequency Comb Spectroscopy Master of Philosophy Master Part Time Mr Joshua Whitaker-Lockwood
2018 - 2025 Co-Supervisor Nonlinear Light-Atom Interactions in Hollow-Core Fibre for Quantum Information Processing Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Jed Anthony Rowland
2017 - 2025 Co-Supervisor Ultrahigh-Resolution Molecular Spectroscopy for Transdisciplinary Applications Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Faisal Karim
2016 - 2019 Co-Supervisor High-Resolution Molecular Spectroscopy with an Optical Frequency Comb Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Dr Sarah Katherine Scholten
2015 - 2020 Co-Supervisor Nonlinear Magneto-Optical Rotation in Rubidium Vapour Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Nathanial Morgan Wilson
2015 - 2020 Co-Supervisor Cold-Atom Loading of Hollow-Core Photonic Crystal Fibre for Quantum Technologies Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Dr Ashby Hilton

Date Role Research Topic Location Program Supervision Type Student Load Student Name
2020 - 2020 Principal Supervisor High Bandwidth Optical Magnetometry University of Adelaide Physics Honours Full Time Kyle Netz
2019 - 2019 Principal Supervisor Building and Characterising a Miniaturised Optical Magnetometer Sensor Head University of Adelaide Physics Honours Full Time Anna Louise Lykke
2018 - 2018 Principal Supervisor Compact Two-Photon Rubidium Clock University of Adelaide Physics Honours Part Time Ben White
2018 - 2018 Co-Supervisor Acquisition and Tracking using Dual Risley Prism Beam Steering University of Adelaide Mechanical Engineering Honours Full Time Jayden Inglis
2018 - 2018 Co-Supervisor Acquisition and Tracking using Dual Risley Prism Beam Steering University of Adelaide Mechanical Engineering Honours Full Time Luke Heffernan
2018 - 2018 Co-Supervisor Acquisition and Tracking using Dual Risley Prism Beam Steering University of Adelaide Mechanical Engineering Honours Full Time Zachary Holmes
2018 - 2018 Co-Supervisor Acquisition and Tracking using Dual Risley Prism Beam Steering University of Adelaide Mechanical Engineering Honours Full Time Nathaniel Shearer
2017 - 2017 Principal Supervisor Quantum Memories in Rubidium Filled Hollow-Core Photonic Crystal Fibre University of Adelaide Physics Honours Full Time Jed Rowland
2016 - 2016 Co-Supervisor Determining Natural Gas Composition Using Frequency Comb Spectroscopy University of Adelaide Petroleum Engineering Honours Full Time Shayan Afshar
2016 - 2016 Co-Supervisor Determining Natural Gas Composition Using Frequency Comb Spectroscopy University of Adelaide Petroleum Engineering Honours Full Time Gianraffaele Moffa
2014 - 2014 Principal Supervisor Rubidium spectroscopy with exposed core fibre University of Adelaide Physics Honours Full Time Hannes Griesser

Date Role Committee Institution Country
2020 - ongoing Member South Australia AIP Branch Committee Australian Institute of Physics Australia

Date Role Membership Country
2022 - ongoing Member Optica Senior Member United States
2014 - ongoing Member Australian Optical Society Australia
2014 - ongoing Member Optical Society of America United States

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