Quantum sensing and imaging with spin defects in hexagonal boron nitride

Abstract

Color centers in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) have recently emerged as promising candidates for a new wave of quantum applications. Thanks to hBN's high stability and 2-dimensional (2D) layered structure, color centers in hBN can serve as robust quantum emitters that can be readily integrated into nanophotonic and plasmonic structures on a chip. More importantly, the recently discovered optically addressable spin defects in hBN provide a quantum interface between photons and electron spins for quantum sensing applications. The most well-studied hBN spin defects, the negatively charged boron vacancy ($V_B^{-}$) spin defects, have been used for quantum sensing of static magnetic fields, magnetic noise, temperature, strain, nuclear spins, paramagnetic spins in liquids, RF signals, and beyond. In particular, hBN nanosheets with spin defects can form van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures with 2D magnetic or other materials for in situ quantum sensing and imaging. This review summarizes the rapidly evolving field of nanoscale and microscale quantum sensing with spin defects in hBN. We introduce basic properties of hBN spin defects, quantum sensing protocols, and recent experimental demonstrations of quantum sensing and imaging with hBN spin defects. We also discuss methods to enhance their sensitivity. Finally, we envision some potential developments and applications of hBN spin defects.

arXiv commentreview article, 21 pages, 13 figures

References in corpus (78)

• 2D materials and van der Waals heterostructures
• Quantum sensing
• High-sensitivity diamond magnetometer with nanoscale resolution
• Optical Magnetometry
• Quantum Plasmonics
• Two-Dimensional Itinerant Ising Ferromagnetism in Atomically thin Fe3GeTe2
• Hexagonal boron nitride is an indirect bandgap semiconductor
• Magnetometry with nitrogen-vacancy defects in diamond
• Sensitivity Optimization for NV-Diamond Magnetometry
• Advances in Photonic Quantum Sensing
• Solid-state electronic spin coherence time approaching one second
• Coherent control of single spins in silicon carbide at room temperature
• Probing condensed matter physics with magnetometry based on nitrogen-vacancy centres in diamond
• High thermal conductivity of high-quality monolayer boron nitride and its thermal expansion
• Room Temperature Initialisation and Readout of Intrinsic Spin Defects in a Van der Waals Crystal
• Tunable and high purity room-temperature single photon emission from atomic defects in hexagonal boron nitride
• Avoiding power broadening in optically detected magnetic resonance of single NV defects for enhanced DC-magnetic field sensitivity
• High Resolution Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Using Solid-State Spins
• Nanoscale magnetic imaging of a single electron spin under ambient conditions
• Identifying Carbon as the Source of Visible Single Photon Emission from Hexagonal Boron Nitride
• Sub-millihertz magnetic spectroscopy with a nanoscale quantum sensor
• Magnetic spin imaging under ambient conditions with sub-cellular resolution
• Coherence of Nitrogen-Vacancy Electronic Spin Ensembles in Diamond
• Temperature Dependence of Wavelength Selectable Zero-Phonon Emission from Single Defects in Hexagonal Boron Nitride
• Real-space imaging of non-collinear antiferromagnetic order with a single spin magnetometer
• Quantum sensing with arbitrary frequency resolution
• Sub-nanoscale Temperature, Magnetic Field and Pressure sensing with Spin Centers in 2D hexagonal Boron Nitride
• Towards a large-scale quantum simulator on diamond surface at room temperature
• Control and Local Measurement of the Spin Chemical Potential in a Magnetic Insulator
• Spectroscopy of Surface-Induced Noise Using Shallow Spins in Diamond
• Room-temperature optically detected magnetic resonance of single defects in hexagonal boron nitride
• Observation of an environmentally insensitive solid state spin defect in diamond
• Color centers in hexagonal boron nitride monolayers: A group theory and ab-initio analysis
• Structural attributes and photo-dynamics of visible spectrum quantum emitters in hexagonal boron nitride
• Quantum decoherence dynamics of divacancy spins in silicon carbide
• Origins of diamond surface noise probed by correlating single spin measurements with surface spectroscopy
• Room Temperature Coherent Control of Spin Defects in hexagonal Boron Nitride
• Excited-state spectroscopy using single-spin manipulation in diamond
• Spin-Dependent Quantum Emission in Hexagonal Boron Nitride at Room Temperature
• Single spin resonance in a van der Waals embedded paramagnetic defect
• Single photon emitters in hexagonal boron nitride: A review of progress
• Broadband, large-area microwave antenna for optically-detected magnetic resonance of nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond
• High-contrast plasmonic-enhanced shallow spin defects in hexagonal boron nitride for quantum sensing
• Wide Field Imaging of van der Waals Ferromagnet Fe3GeTe2 by Spin Defects in Hexagonal Boron Nitride
• Prospects and challenges of quantum emitters in 2D materials
• Femtosecond Laser Writing of Spin Defects in Hexagonal Boron Nitride
• Nuclear spin polarization and control in a van der Waals material
• Photoluminescence and photochemistry of the $V_B^{-}$ defect in hexagonal boron nitride
• Towards $\text{ab initio}$ identification of paramagnetic substitutional carbon defects in hexagonal boron nitride acting as quantum bits
• Generation of Spin Defects by Ion Implantation in Hexagonal Boron Nitride
• High-Harmonic generation from spin-polarised defects in solids
• Coupling spin defects in hexagonal boron nitride to monolithic bullseye cavities
• Electron Paramagnetic Resonance signature of point defects in neutron irradiated hexagonal Boron Nitride
• Coherent dynamics of strongly interacting electronic spin defects in hexagonal boron nitride
• Atomic Localization of Quantum Emitters in Multilayer Hexagonal Boron Nitride
• Room temperature coherent control of protected qubit in hexagonal boron nitride
• Magnetic imaging with spin defects in hexagonal boron nitride
• Coherent dynamics of multi-spin ${\mathrm{V}}_{\mathrm{B}}^{-}$ centers in hexagonal boron nitride
• Excited-state optically detected magnetic resonance of spin defects in hexagonal boron nitride
• Spin-Mechanical Scheme with Color Centers in Hexagonal Boron Nitride Membranes
• Excited-state spin-resonance spectroscopy of V${}_{\text{B}}^{-}$ defect centers in hexagonal boron nitride
• Unveiling the Zero-Phonon Line of the Boron Vacancy Center by Cavity Enhanced Emission
• Greatly Enhanced Emission from Spin Defects in Hexagonal Boron Nitride Enabled by a Low-Loss Plasmonic Nano-Cavity
• Carbon and vacancy centers in hexagonal boron nitride
• Electron-nuclear coherent coupling and nuclear spin readout through optically polarized VB- spin states in hBN
• Excited-state spectroscopy of spin defects in hexagonal boron nitride
• Detection of paramagnetic spins with an ultrathin van der Waals quantum sensor
• Quantum sensing of paramagnetic spins in liquids with spin qubits in hexagonal boron nitride
• Magnetic field imaging by hBN quantum sensor nanoarray
• Laser Direct Writing of Visible Spin Defects in Hexagonal Boron Nitride for Applications in Spin-Based Technologies
• Quantum Effects in a Mechanically Modulated Single Photon Emitter
• Symmetry of the Hyperfine and Quadrupole Interactions of Boron Vacancies in a Hexagonal Boron Nitride
• Active spin lattice hyperpolarization: Application to hexagonal boron nitride color centers
• Carbon-based single photon emitters in hexagonal boron nitride with triplet ground state
• Stimulated Emission Depletion Microscopy with Color Centers in Hexagonal Boron Nitride
• Coupling spin defects in hexagonal boron nitride to a microwave cavity
• Spin-induced multipartite steady-state entanglement of motional modes in hexagonal boron nitride membranes
• Stability of the discrete time-crystalline order in spin-optomechanical and open cavity QED systems

Cited by in corpus (22)

• Isotopic control of the boron-vacancy spin defect in hexagonal boron nitride
• Sensing Spin Wave Excitations by Spin Defects in Few-Layer Thick Hexagonal Boron Nitride
• Quantum sensing of paramagnetic spins in liquids with spin qubits in hexagonal boron nitride
• Multiferroicity and Topology in Twisted Transition Metal Dichalcogenides
• Roadmap on Quantum Magnetic Materials
• Temperature dependent spin-phonon coupling of boron-vacancy centers in hexagonal boron nitride
• Electrically pumped h-BN single-photon emission in van der Waals heterostructure
• Creation and Microscopic Origins of Single-Photon Emitters in Transition Metal Dichalcogenides and Hexagonal Boron Nitride
• Optimisation of electron irradiation for creating spin ensembles in hexagonal boron nitride
• Local noise spectroscopy of Wigner crystals in two-dimensional materials
• Coherent Spins in van der Waals Semiconductor GeS2 at Ambient Conditions
• Diamond quantum sensors in microfluidics technology
• Computational Electromagnetics Meets Spin Qubits: Controlling Noise Effects in Quantum Sensing and Computing
• Quantifying the creation of negatively charged boron vacancies in He-ion irradiated hexagonal boron nitride
• First-principles computational methods for quantum defects in two-dimensional materials: A perspective
• Current-induced brightening of vacancy-related emitters in hexagonal boron nitride
• Room-Temperature Electrical Readout of Spin Defects in van der Waals Materials
• Universal Reconstruction of Complex Magnetic Profiles with Minimum Prior Assumptions
• Group theoretical and ab-initio description of color center candidates in fluorographene
• Growth of hexagonal BN crystals by traveling-solvent floating zone
• All-optical magnetic imaging with spin defects in van der Waals materials at Angstrom-scale
• Identifying optimal magnetic field configurations for decoherence mitigation of boron vacancies in hexagonal boron nitride