Abstract:

Advances in experimental condensed matter physics are often driven by the developments of new materials and new measurement probes. There is an emerging interest to develop and deploy qubit-like systems to perform “quantum sensing” measurements on complex quantum materials --- ultimately probing information such as many-body quantum correlation and entanglement, that may be commonly calculated theoretically but challenging to extract with conventional experimental techniques. I will describe our recent research efforts to develop hybrid quantum material structures as an enabling platform toward this goal, by combining “sensing materials” containing qubit-like entities or building blocks (ranging from superconducting Josephson junctions to optically addressed quantum emitters) with other interesting (topological or correlated) quantum materials to be studied. For example, I will discuss how nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in nano-diamonds and defect/color centers in 2D material boron nitrides (h-BN) may be used to measure magnetic/electric fields and their fluctuations and probe phase transitions in magnetic quantum materials.