Quantum Sensing with Solid-State Spin Defects: From the Atomically Thin Platform to Correlated Matter Under Extreme Conditions
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Solid-state spin defects have emerged as a versatile quantum platform, supporting quantum sensing and simulation across host materials from diamond to atomically thin crystals. This dissertation advances two distinct spin-defect systems: it develops the boron vacancy (VB-) in hexagonal boron nitride as a coherently controlled two-dimensional (2D) platform, and it applies the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center to probe unconventional superconductivity. The first part concerns the coherent control and engineering of strongly interacting boron vacancy ensembles: exploring their many-body spin dynamics, tailoring the host nuclear bath through isotope engineering, and characterizing the spin–phonon coupling that defines their intrinsic limits. It further integrates these 2D sensors directly onto diamond anvil culets for in situ magnetometry at extreme pressures. The second part establishes NV centers as local probes of unconventional superconductors, both sensing the dynamical magnetic fluctuations of the superconducting state and spatially resolving its local diamagnetic response. The focus is recent measurements of pressure-quenched Hg-1223 cuprates, where NV magnetometry images pressure-enhanced superconductivity that persists to ambient conditions. Together, these results illustrate how a shared toolkit of quantum control can be translated across diverse material platforms and physical regimes to unlock new capabilities in condensed matter physics.
DOI: 10.7936/q3cd-7g41
Author: Gong, Ruotian
Language: English
Subfield: Materials Chemistry
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7214046276