arXiv subjects

Chunhui Rita Du

Publications and source records attributed to Chunhui Rita Du.

30 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2023

Nanoscale magnetic domains in polycrystalline Mn3Sn films imaged by a scanning single-spin magnetometer

Noncollinear antiferromagnets with novel magnetic orders, vanishingly small net magnetization and exotic spin related properties hold enormous promise for developing next-generation, transformative spintronic applications. A major ongoing research focus of this community is to explore, control, and harness unconventional magnetic phases of this emergent material system to deliver state-of-the-art functionalities for modern microelectronics. Here we report direct imaging of magnetic domains of polycrystalline Mn3Sn films, a prototypical noncollinear antiferromagnet, using nitrogen-vacancy-based single-spin scanning microscopy. Nanoscale evolution of local stray field patterns of Mn3Sn samples are systematically investigated in response to external driving forces, revealing the characteristic "heterogeneous" magnetic switching behaviors in polycrystalline textured Mn3Sn films. Our results contribute to a comprehensive understanding of inhomogeneous magnetic orders of noncollinear antiferromagnets, highlighting the potential of nitrogen-vacancy centers to study microscopic spin properties of a broad range of emergent condensed matter systems.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Electric-Field-Induced Coherent Control of Nitrogen Vacancy Centers

Enabling scalable and energy-efficient control of spin defects in solid-state media is desirable for realizing transformative quantum information technologies. Exploiting voltage-controlled magnetic anisotropy, we report coherent manipulation of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers by the spatially confined magnetic stray fields produced by a proximate resonant magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ). Remarkably, the coherent coupling between NV centers and the MTJ can be systematically controlled by a DC bias voltage, allowing for appreciable electrical tunability in the presented hybrid system. In comparison with current state-of-the-art techniques, the demonstrated NV-based quantum operational platform exhibits significant advantages in scalability, device compatibility, and energy-efficiency, further expanding the role of NV centers in a broad range of quantum computing, sensing, and communications applications.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Quantum sensing and imaging of spin-orbit-torque-driven spin dynamics in noncollinear antiferromagnet Mn3Sn

Novel noncollinear antiferromagnets with spontaneous time-reversal symmetry breaking, nontrivial band topology, and unconventional transport properties have received immense research interest over the past decade due to their rich physics and enormous promise in technological applications. One of the central focuses in this emerging field is exploring the relationship between the microscopic magnetic structure and exotic material properties. Here, the nanoscale imaging of both spin-orbit-torque-induced deterministic magnetic switching and chiral spin rotation in noncollinear antiferromagnet Mn3Sn films using nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers is reported. Direct evidence of the off-resonance dipole-dipole coupling between the spin dynamics in Mn3Sn and proximate NV centers is also demonstrated with NV relaxometry measurements. These results demonstrate the unique capabilities of NV centers in accessing the local information of the magnetic order and dynamics in these emergent quantum materials and suggest new opportunities for investigating the interplay between topology and magnetism in a broad range of topological magnets.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Wide Field Imaging of van der Waals Ferromagnet Fe3GeTe2 by Spin Defects in Hexagonal Boron Nitride

Emergent color centers with accessible spins hosted by van der Waals materials have attracted substantial interest in recent years due to their significant potential for implementing transformative quantum sensing technologies. Hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) is naturally relevant in this context due to its remarkable ease of integration into devices consisting of low-dimensional materials. Taking advantage of boron vacancy spin defects in hBN, we report nanoscale quantum imaging of low-dimensional ferromagnetism sustained in Fe3GeTe2/hBN van der Waals heterostructures. Exploiting spin relaxometry methods, we have further observed spatially varying magnetic fluctuations in the exfoliated Fe3GeTe2 flake, whose magnitude reaches a peak value around the Curie temperature. Our results demonstrate the capability of spin defects in hBN of investigating local magnetic properties of layered materials in an accessible and precise way, which can be extended readily to a broad range of miniaturized van der Waals heterostructure systems.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2021

Quantum Imaging of Magnetic Phase Transitions and Spin Fluctuations in Intrinsic Magnetic Topological Nanoflakes

Topological materials featuring exotic band structures, unconventional current flow patterns, and emergent organizing principles offer attractive platforms for the development of next-generation transformative quantum electronic technologies. The family of MnBi2Te4 (Bi2Te3)n materials is naturally relevant in this context due to their nontrivial band topology, tunable magnetism, and recently discovered extraordinary quantum transport behaviors. Despite numerous pioneering studies, to date, the local magnetic properties of MnBi2Te4 (Bi2Te3)n remain an open question, hindering a comprehensive understanding of their fundamental material properties. Exploiting nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond, we report nanoscale quantum imaging of magnetic phase transitions and spin fluctuations in exfoliated MnBi2Te4 (Bi2Te3)n flakes, revealing the underlying spin transport physics and magnetic domains at the nanoscale. Our results highlight the unique advantage of NV centers in exploring the magnetic properties of emergent quantum materials, opening new opportunities for investigating the interplay between topology and magnetism.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2021

Observation of Superconductivity Induced Ferromagnetism in an Fe-Chalcogenide Superconductor

The interplay among topology, superconductivity, and magnetism promises to bring a plethora of exotic and unintuitive behaviors in emergent quantum materials. The family of Fe-chalcogenide superconductors FeTexSe1-x are directly relevant in this context due to their intrinsic topological band structure, high-temperature superconductivity, and unconventional pairing symmetry. Despite enormous promise and expectation, the local magnetic properties of FeTexSe1-x remain largely unexplored, which prevents a comprehensive understanding of their underlying material properties. Exploiting nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers in diamond, here we report nanoscale quantum sensing and imaging of magnetic flux generated by exfoliated FeTexSe1-x flakes, providing clear evidence of superconductivity-induced ferromagnetism in FeTexSe1-x. The coexistence of superconductivity and ferromagnetism in an established topological superconductor opens up new opportunities for exploring exotic spin and charge transport phenomena in quantum materials. The demonstrated coupling between NV centers and FeTexSe1-x may also find applications in developing hybrid architectures for next-generation, solid-state-based quantum information technologies.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2021

Spin Pumping of an Easy-Plane Antiferromagnet Enhanced by Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interaction

Recently, antiferromagnets have received revived interest due to their significant potential for developing next-generation ultrafast magnetic storage. Here we report dc spin pumping by the acoustic resonant mode in a canted easy-plane antiferromagnet α-Fe2O3 enabled by the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction. Systematic angle and frequency dependent measurements demonstrate that the observed spin pumping signals arise from resonance-induced spin injection and inverse spin Hall effect in α-Fe2O3/metal heterostructures, mimicking the behavior of spin pumping in conventional ferromagnet/nonmagnet systems. The pure spin current nature is further corroborated by reversal of the polarity of spin pumping signals when the spin detector is switched from platinum to tungsten which has an opposite sign of the spin Hall angle. Our results highlight the potential opportunities offered by the low-frequency acoustic resonant mode in canted easy-plane antiferromagnets for developing next-generation, functional spintronic devices.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

Quantum Sensing of Spin Transport Properties of an Antiferromagnetic Insulator

Antiferromagnetic insulators (AFIs) are of significant interest due to their potential to develop next-generation spintronic devices. One major effort in this emerging field is to harness AFIs for long-range spin information communication and storage. Here, we report a non-invasive method to optically access the intrinsic spin transport properties of an archetypical AFI α-Fe2O3 via nitrogen-vacancy (NV) quantum spin sensors. By NV relaxometry measurements, we successfully detect the time-dependent fluctuations of the longitudinal spin density of α-Fe2O3. The observed frequency dependence of the NV relaxation rate is in agreement with a theoretical model, from which an intrinsic spin diffusion constant of α-Fe2O3 is experimentally measured in the absence of external spin biases. Our results highlight the significant opportunity offered by NV centers in diagnosing the underlying spin transport properties in a broad range of high-frequency magnetic materials, which are challenging to access by more conventional measurement techniques.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Quantum Sensing of Insulator-to-Metal Transitions in a Mott Insulator

Nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers, optically-active atomic defects in diamond, have attracted tremendous interest for quantum sensing, network, and computing applications due to their excellent quantum coherence and remarkable versatility in a real, ambient environment. Taking advantage of these strengths, we report on NV-based local sensing of the electrically driven insulator-to-metal transition (IMT) in a proximal Mott insulator. We studied the resistive switching properties of both pristine and ion-irradiated VO2 thin film devices by performing optically detected NV electron spin resonance measurements. These measurements probe the local temperature and magnetic field in electrically biased VO2 devices, which are in agreement with the global transport measurement results. In pristine devices, the electrically-driven IMT proceeds through Joule heating up to the transition temperature while in ion-irradiated devices, the transition occurs non-thermally, well below the transition temperature. Our results provide the first direct evidence for non-thermal electrically induced IMT in a Mott insulator, highlighting the significant opportunities offered by NV quantum sensors in exploring nanoscale thermal and electrical behaviors in Mott materials.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Quantum Sensing of Spin Fluctuations of Magnetic Insulator Films with Perpendicular Anisotropy

Nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers, optically active atomic defects in diamond, have been widely applied to emerging quantum sensing, imaging, and network efforts, showing unprecedented field sensitivity and nanoscale spatial resolution. Many of these advantages derive from their excellent quantum-coherence, controllable entanglement, and high fidelity of operations, enabling opportunities to outperform the classical counterpart. Exploiting this cutting-edge quantum metrology, we report noninvasive measurement of intrinsic spin fluctuations of magnetic insulator thin films with a spontaneous out-of-plane magnetization. The measured field dependence of NV relaxation rates is well correlated to the variation of magnon density and band structure of the magnetic samples, which are challenging to access by the conventional magnetometry methods. Our results highlight the significant opportunities offered by NV centers in diagnosing the noise environment of functional magnetic elements, providing valuable information to design next-generation, high-density, and scalable spintronic devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Electrical Control of Coherent Spin Rotation of a Single-Spin Qubit

Nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers, optically-active atomic defects in diamond, have attracted tremendous interest for quantum sensing, network, and computing applications due to their excellent quantum coherence and remarkable versatility in a real, ambient environment. One of the critical challenges to develop NV-based quantum operation platforms results from the difficulty to locally address the quantum spin states of individual NV spins in a scalable, energy-efficient manner. Here, we report electrical control of the coherent spin rotation rate of a single-spin qubit in NV-magnet based hybrid quantum systems. By utilizing electrically generated spin currents, we are able to achieve efficient tuning of magnetic damping and the amplitude of the dipole fields generated by a micrometer-sized resonant magnet, enabling electrical control of the Rabi oscillation frequency of NV spins. Our results highlight the potential of NV centers in designing functional hybrid solid-state systems for next-generation quantum-information technologies. The demonstrated coupling between the NV centers and the propagating spin waves harbored by a magnetic insulator further points to the possibility to establish macroscale entanglement between distant spin qubits.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Nanoscale Detection of Magnon Excitations with Variable Wavevectors Through a Quantum Spin Sensor

We report the optical detection of magnons with a broad range of wavevectors in magnetic insulator Y3Fe5O12 thin films by proximate nitrogen-vacancy (NV) single-spin sensors. Through multi-magnon scattering processes, the excited magnons generate fluctuating magnetic fields at the NV electron spin resonance frequencies, which accelerate the relaxation of NV spins. By measuring the variation of the emitted spin-dependent photoluminescence of the NV centers, magnons with variable wavevectors up to ~ 5 x 10^7 m-1 can be optically accessed, providing an alternative perspective to reveal the underlying spin behaviors in magnetic systems. Our results highlight the significant opportunities offered by NV single-spin quantum sensors in exploring nanoscale spin dynamics of emergent spintronic materials.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗