Nanoscale single spin magnetometry for nano magnetism and antiferromagnetic spintronics"

Electronic spins yield excellent quantum sensors, offering quantitative, nanoscale sensing and imaging [1] down to the level of single spins [2]. Over the last years, the Basel Quantum Sensing Group has developed all-diamond scanning probes [3], which offer a robust, highly-sensitive implementation of such single-spin quantum sensors, specifically designed to address challenging, open problems in condensed matter physics. In this talk, I will focus on our recent advances in applying this novel and unique quantum-technology to study thin-film antiferromagnets on the nanoscale. Such systems have recently attracted significant interest due to the key role they play in the emerging field of antiferromagnetic spintronics [4]. However, due to their vanishing net magnetic moment, thin film antiferromagnets are notoriously hard to address on the nanoscale. I will show how our quantum sensors can overcome such limitations by presenting quantitative quantum sensing and imaging of non-trivial spin-textures [5] and nanoscale domains [6] in thin film antiferromagnets such as Cr2O3 and BiFeO3. Time permitting, I will also discuss our activities in bringing single spin magnetometry to cryogenic conditions, where we recently demonstrated high-precision imaging of individual vortices in thin film superconductors [7]. These results establish scanning single spin magnetometry as a novel, powerful tool to address electronic properties of mesoscopic, solid state systems on the nanoscale.   

References
[1]     L. Rondin et al., Rep. Prog. Phys. 77, 056503
[2]     M. Grinolds et al., Nature Physics 9, 215
[3]     P. Appel et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 87, 063703, P. Maletinsky, et al., Nature Nanotech. 7, 320
[4]     T. Jungwirth et al., Nature Nanotech. 11, 231
[5]     I. Gross et al., Nature 549, 252
[6]     T. Kosub et al., Nature Commun. 8, 13985
[7]     L. Thiel et al., Nature Nano. 11 677
About the research of the speaker: https://quantum-sensing.physik.unibas.ch/news.html