arXiv subjects

Gregory D. Fuchs

Publications and source records attributed to Gregory D. Fuchs.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Imaging Harmonic Generation of Magnons

This work combines theory and experiment to examine the mechanisms underlying the harmonic generation of magnons. We develop a nonlinear spin-wave framework that is directly analogous to harmonic generation in nonlinear optics, and combine it with scanning nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center magnetometry to image and quantify magnonic harmonic generation in a Ni$_{81}$Fe$_{19}$/Pt microstripe. Within this framework, the harmonic response arises from nonlinear magnetization dynamics localized at strongly inhomogeneous textures, such as the sample edges and domain walls, that act as anharmonic confining potentials. Scanning probe imaging confirms that the harmonic response is correspondingly nonuniform and concentrated near the sample edges. We measure an expected nonlinear power-law scaling, a systematic shift toward larger wavevector excitations at higher harmonic order, and a spin-selective response indicative of an increasingly chiral harmonic stray field. These results provide a microscopic understanding of magnonic harmonic generation and highlight its potential for engineering nonlinear functionality in magnonic systems.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2026

Fast Single Nitrogen-Vacancy Center Ramsey Characterization using a Physics-Informed Neural Network

Precise characterization of the local spin environment of single diamond nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers is crucial for advancing quantum sensing, quantum networking, and the optimization of quantum materials. However, single NV center fluorescence measurements requires long averaging times to obtain clean data that is suitable for conventional model fitting, and that constitutes a key experimental bottleneck for high-throughput characterization. To address this, we introduce \textsc{NVRNet}, a physics-informed simulation-to-reality machine learning pipeline that maps minimal-sweep, noisy Ramsey data to a denoised waveform while directly estimating the hyperfine coupling to proximal ${}^{13}\mathrm{C}$ nuclear spins. The pipeline's denoiser utilizes a two-stage time-frequency U-Net and an attention-augmented time-domain U-Net, pretrained on Hamiltonian-based spin-dynamics simulations with experimentally calibrated noise. To effectively bridge the simulation-to-reality gap, parameter-efficient adapters are attached to the backbone and fine-tuned on targeted experimental data. Across three distinct NV centers, this experimentally fine-tuned model reduces the median reconstruction error on held-out, few-sweep traces to $0.44\text{-}0.67\times$ of the raw experimental noise level. Subsequently, a transformer-based estimator extracts the underlying hyperfine parameters. Forward reconstructions derived from these inferred parameters faithfully reproduce the dominant experimental time- and frequency-domain features, yielding representative normalized fast Fourier transform (FFT) reconstruction errors of $0.10\text{-}0.19$. By reducing both the required data volume and acquisition time, \textsc{NVRNet} enables up to $\sim 40\times$ acceleration of the measurement process, establishing a fast, hardware-compatible pathway for robust hyperfine inference and autonomous qubit characterization.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Low-temperature spin dynamics in LAFO thin films: from cubic anisotropy to TLS-limited coherence

We investigate the low-temperature spin dynamics of epitaxial lithium aluminum ferrite (LAFO) thin films using broadband ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) spectroscopy from 0.44 K to 68 K. The results reveal a crossover from conventional cubic anisotropy-dominated behavior at higher temperatures to pronounced linewidth broadening and higher-order anisotropy contributions at cryogenic temperatures. With the magnetic field oriented along the [100] crystallographic direction, the resonance is well-captured by four-fold in-plane and out-of-plane uniaxial anisotropies. In contrast, measurements with the field along the [110] direction reveal the presence of an unusually large sixth-order cubic anisotropy term that is symmetry-suppressed for [100] but becomes apparent under this field orientation at ultralow temperatures, indicating a substantial modification of the anisotropy landscape. Independent linewidth analysis shows a pronounced peak near 8 K and a subtle monotonic enhancement with decreasing temperatures below 2 K, features consistent with dissipation mediated by a bath of two-level systems (TLS) arising from antisite defects and localized Fe$^{3+}$ moments. Comparison with TLS-based models demonstrates that both exchange-coupled impurities and nearly free paramagnetic centers contribute to the observed damping. Our results establish LAFO as a model ferrite system where disorder-induced TLS limit spin coherence at ultralow temperatures, providing new insights into anisotropy engineering, magnetic relaxation, and the design of ferrimagnetic insulators for coherent magnonics. These findings offer a framework for future optimization of growth conditions.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Active-Learning Inspired $\textit{Ab Initio}$ Theory-Experiment Loop Approach for Management of Material Defects: Application to Superconducting Qubits

Surface oxides are associated with two-level systems (TLSs) that degrade the performance of niobium-based superconducting quantum computing devices. To address this, we introduce a predictive framework for selecting metal capping layers that inhibit niobium oxide formation. Using DFT-calculated oxygen interstitial and vacancy energies as thermodynamic descriptors, we train a logistic regression model on a limited set of experimental outcomes to successfully predict the likelihood of oxide formation beneath different capping materials. This approach identifies Zr, Hf, and Ta as effective diffusion barriers. Our analysis further reveals that the oxide formation energy per oxygen atom serves as an excellent standalone descriptor for predicting barrier performance. By combining this new descriptor with lattice mismatch as a secondary criterion to promote structurally coherent interfaces, we identify Zr, Ta, and Sc as especially promising candidates. This closed-loop strategy integrates first-principles theory, machine learning, and limited experimental data to enable rational design of next-generation materials.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Octupole-driven spin torque switching of antiferromagnetic tunnel junctions

Magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) based on ferromagnets are canonical devices in spintronics, with wide-ranging applications in data storage, computing, and sensing. They simultaneously exhibit mechanisms for electrical detection and control of magnetic order through the tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) and spin-transfer torque (STT) effects, respectively. It was long assumed that neither of these effects could be sizeable in all-antiferromagnetic tunnel junctions (AATJs), since they exhibit no net magnetization. Recently, however, it was shown that AATJs based on chiral antiferromagnets do exhibit TMR due to their non-relativistic momentum-dependent spin polarization and cluster magnetic octupole moment (CMO), which are manifestations of their spin-split band structure. However, the reciprocal effect, i.e., the antiferromagnetic counterpart of STT, has been assumed non-existent due to the total electric current being spin-neutral. Here, we report nanoscale AATJs exhibiting this reciprocal effect, which we term octupole-driven spin-transfer torque (OTT). We demonstrate current-induced OTT switching of PtMn3|MgO|PtMn3 AATJs, exhibiting a TMR value of 363% at room temperature and switching current densities of the order of 10 MA/cm2. Our theoretical modeling explains the origin of OTT in terms of the imbalance between intra- and inter-sublattice spin currents across the AATJ, and equivalently, in terms of the non-zero net cluster octupole polarization of each PtMn3 layer. This work establishes a new materials platform for antiferromagnetic spintronics and provides a pathway towards deeply scaled magnetic memory and room-temperature terahertz technologies.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Low barrier ZrO$_x$-based Josephson junctions

The Josephson junction is a crucial element in superconducting devices, and niobium is a promising candidate for the superconducting material due to its large energy gap relative to aluminum. AlO$_x$ has long been regarded as the highest quality oxide tunnel barrier and is often used in niobium-based junctions. Here we propose ZrO$_x$ as an alternative tunnel barrier material for Nb electrodes. We theoretically estimate that zirconium oxide has excellent oxygen retention properties and experimentally verify that there is no significant oxygen diffusion leading to NbO$_x$ formation in the adjacent Nb electrode. We develop a top-down, subtractive fabrication process for Nb/Zr-ZrO$_x$/Nb Josephson junctions, which enables scalability and large-scale production of superconducting electronics. Using cross sectional scanning transmission electron microscopy, we experimentally find that depending on the Zr thickness, ZrO$_x$ tunnel barriers can be fully crystalline with chemically abrupt interfaces with niobium. Further analysis using electron energy loss spectroscopy reveals that ZrO$_x$ corresponds to tetragonal ZrO$_2$. Room temperature characterization of fabricated junctions using Simmons' model shows that ZrO$_2$ exhibits a low tunnel barrier height, which is promising in merged-element transmon applications. Low temperature transport measurements reveal sub-gap structure, while the low-voltage sub-gap resistance remains in the megaohm range.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2025

Microscopic mechanisms of flexoelectricity in oxide membranes

Modern electromechanical actuators and sensors rely on the piezoelectric effect that linearly couples strain and electric polarization. However, this effect is restricted to materials that lack inversion symmetry. In contrast, the flexoelectric effect couples strain gradients to electric polarization, and is a universal property in insulating materials of arbitrary symmetry. Flexoelectricity becomes prominent at the nanoscale from the inverse scaling of strain gradients with material dimensions. Here, we measure the strain-gradient-induced structural distortions in strontium titanate using multislice electron ptychography. This technique enables reliable picometer-scale measurements of the dominant oxygen-titanium distortions, correcting for artifacts that limited conventional imaging methods. This enables us to directly measure the sign of the net ionic contribution to the flexoelectric polarization. Guided by the experimental measurements, first-principles calculations show how the sign and magnitude of the bulk contribution to the flexoelectric coefficient in strontium titanate can be switched by tuning the strain state. Hybridization between the optical soft phonon and acoustic phonon modes drives this transition, yielding a large response and a polarity switch across the resonance. This strain-dependence might explain the sign discrepancy and orders of magnitude variation in the values of previously reported flexoelectric coefficients for strontium titanate. As the strain state of curved membranes can be tuned, our approach also suggests an approach to engineer nanoscale flexoelectric polarization using strain as a control parameter.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Low-loss Nb on Si superconducting resonators from a dual-use spintronics deposition chamber and with acid-free post-processing

Magnetic impurities are known to degrade superconductivity. For this reason, physical vapor deposition chambers that have previously been used for magnetic materials have generally been avoided for making high-quality superconducting resonator devices. In this article, we show by example that such chambers can be used for this purpose; with Nb films sputtered in a chamber that continues to be used for magnetic materials, we demonstrate compact (\SI{3}{\micro\meter} gap) coplanar waveguide resonators with low-power internal quality factors near one million. We achieve this using a resist strip bath with no post-fabrication acid treatment, which results in performance comparable to previous strip baths with acid treatments. We also find evidence that this improved resist strip bath provides a better surface chemical template for post-fabrication hydrogen fluoride processing. These results are consistent across three Si substrate preparation methods, including a \SI{700}{\celsius} anneal. These results will inform nanofabrication for other superconducting materials and the integration of magnetic materials for hybrid systems.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Optical Readout of Coherent Nuclear Spins Beyond the NV Center Electron T$_1$

The nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center is an emerging platform for constructing inertial sensors. Its native nitrogen spin can serve as a gyroscope using Ramsey interferometry protocols. The sensitivities of these nuclear-spin-based NV gyroscopes are limited by the phase coherence time of the nuclear spin, which is in turn limited by the $T_1$ of the NV center's electron spin. There is an active research effort to decouple the nuclear spin from the electron spin and other sources of decoherence to extend the phase coherence time past the NV center electron $T_1$. However, this presents an associated challenge -- how to readout of the nuclear spin ensemble if the electronic spins have relaxed into a thermal state. We introduce an optical repump pulse to repolarize electron spins and investigate its effect on the readout of nuclear spins in this regime. We find for ensemble-based sensors, our readout protocol has around a six-fold improvement in sensitivity around the excited state anti-level crossing at 500 G compared to low fields (200 G), despite the presence of deleterious spin flip-flop dynamics in the excited state.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Cooling and Squeezing a Microwave Cavity State with Magnons Using a Beam Splitter Interaction

We propose two geometries to realize a significant beam splitter interaction (XZ coupling) between magnons and a 2D microwave cavity mode. In both setups the cavity is analogous to the mechanical oscillator in a conventional optomechanical setup. The backaction effects are calculated with realistic experimental parameters. The analytical results show that we can not only make the backaction damping (anti-damping) rate larger than the bare microwave resonator damping rate, but that we can also achieve quantum squeezing of the resonator where the uncertainty in one quadruture (charge or current) is smaller than its zero point fluctuation.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Purcell enhancement and spin spectroscopy of silicon vacancy centers in silicon carbide using an ultra-small mode-volume plasmonic cavity

Silicon vacancy (V$_{Si}$) centers in 4H-silicon carbide have emerged as a strong candidate for quantum networking applications due to their robust electronic and optical properties including a long spin coherence lifetime and bright, stable emission. Here, we report the integration of V$_{Si}$ centers with a plasmonic nanocavity to Purcell enhance the emission, which is critical for scalable quantum networking. Employing a simple fabrication process, we demonstrate plasmonic cavities that support a nanoscale mode volume and exhibit an increase in the spontaneous emission rate with a measured Purcell factor of up to 48. In addition to investigating the optical resonance modes, we demonstrate that an improvement in the optical stability of the spin-preserving resonant optical transitions relative to the radiation-limited value. The results highlight the potential of nanophotonic structures for advancing quantum networking technologies and emphasizes the importance of optimizing emitter-cavity interactions for efficient quantum photonic applications.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Tuning exciton emission via ferroelectric polarization at a heterogeneous interface between a monolayer transition metal dichalcogenide and a perovskite oxide membrane

We demonstrate the integration of a thin BaTiO$_3$ (BTO) membrane with monolayer MoSe$_2$ in a dual gate device that enables in-situ manipulation of the BTO ferroelectric polarization with a voltage pulse. While two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) offer remarkable adaptability, their hybrid integration with other families of functional materials beyond the realm of 2D materials has been challenging. Released functional oxide membranes offer a solution for 2D/3D integration via stacking. 2D TMD excitons can serve as a local probe of the ferroelectric polarization in BTO at a heterogeneous interface. Using photoluminescence (PL) of MoSe$_2$ excitons to optically readout the doping level, we find that the relative population of charge carriers in MoSe$_2$ depends sensitively on the ferroelectric polarization. This finding points to a promising avenue for future-generations versatile sensing devices with high sensitivity, fast read-out, and diverse applicability for advanced signal processing.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

Stroboscopic X-ray Diffraction Microscopy of Dynamic Strain in Diamond Thin-film Bulk Acoustic Resonators for Quantum Control of Nitrogen Vacancy Centers

Bulk-mode acoustic waves in a crystalline material exert lattice strain through the thickness of the sample, which couples to the spin Hamiltonian of defect-based qubits such as the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center defect in diamond. This mechanism has been previously harnessed for unconventional quantum spin control, spin decoherence protection, and quantum sensing. Bulk-mode acoustic wave devices are also important in the microelectronics industry as microwave filters. A key challenge in both applications is a lack of appropriate operando microscopy tools for quantifying and visualizing gigahertz-frequency dynamic strain. In this work, we directly image acoustic strain within NV center-coupled diamond thin-film bulk acoustic wave resonators using stroboscopic scanning hard X-ray diffraction microscopy at the Advanced Photon Source. The far-field scattering patterns of the nano-focused X-ray diffraction encode strain information entirely through the illuminated thickness of the resonator. These patterns have a real-space spatial variation that is consistent with the bulk strain's expected modal distribution and a momentum-space angular variation from which the strain amplitude can be quantitatively deduced. We also perform optical measurements of strain-driven Rabi precession of the NV center spin ensemble, providing an additional quantitative measurement of the strain amplitude. As a result, we directly measure the NV spin-stress coupling parameter $b = 2.73(2)$ MHz/GPa by correlating these measurements at the same spatial position and applied microwave power. Our results demonstrate a unique technique for directly imaging AC lattice strain in micromechanical structures and provide a direct measurement of a fundamental constant for the NV center defect spin Hamiltonian.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

$\textit{In situ}$ electric-field control of ferromagnetic resonance in the low-loss organic-based ferrimagnet V[TCNE]$_{x\sim 2}$

We demonstrate indirect electric-field control of ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) in devices that integrate the low-loss, molecule-based, room-temperature ferrimagnet vanadium tetracyanoethylene (V[TCNE]$_{x \sim 2}$) mechanically coupled to PMN-PT piezoelectric transducers. Upon straining the V[TCNE]$_x$ films, the FMR frequency is tuned by more than 6 times the resonant linewidth with no change in Gilbert damping for samples with $\alpha = 6.5 \times 10^{-5}$. We show this tuning effect is due to a strain-dependent magnetic anisotropy in the films and find the magnetoelastic coefficient $|\lambda_S| \sim (1 - 4.4)$ ppm, backed by theoretical predictions from DFT calculations and magnetoelastic theory. Noting the rapidly expanding application space for strain-tuned FMR, we define a new metric for magnetostrictive materials, $\textit{magnetostrictive agility}$, given by the ratio of the magnetoelastic coefficient to the FMR linewidth. This agility allows for a direct comparison between magnetostrictive materials in terms of their comparative efficacy for magnetoelectric applications requiring ultra-low loss magnetic resonance modulated by strain. With this metric, we show V[TCNE]$_x$ is competitive with other magnetostrictive materials including YIG and Terfenol-D. This combination of ultra-narrow linewidth and magnetostriction in a system that can be directly integrated into functional devices without requiring heterogeneous integration in a thin-film geometry promises unprecedented functionality for electric-field tuned microwave devices ranging from low-power, compact filters and circulators to emerging applications in quantum information science and technology.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

Optical Dipole Structure and Orientation of GaN Defect Single-Photon Emitters

GaN has recently been shown to host bright, photostable, defect single photon emitters in the 600-700 nm wavelength range that are promising for quantum applications. The nature and origin of these defect emitters remain elusive. In this work, we study the optical dipole structures and orientations of these defect emitters using the defocused imaging technique. In this technique, the far-field radiation pattern of an emitter in the Fourier plane is imaged to obtain information about the structure of the optical dipole moment and its orientation in 3D. Our experimental results, backed by numerical simulations, show that these defect emitters in GaN exhibit a single dipole moment that is oriented almost perpendicular to the wurtzite crystal c-axis. Data collected from many different emitters shows that the angular orientation of the dipole moment in the plane perpendicular to the c-axis exhibits a distribution that shows peaks centered at the angles corresponding to the nearest Ga-N bonds and also at the angles corresponding to the nearest Ga-Ga (or N-N) directions. Moreover, the in-plane angular distribution shows little difference among defect emitters with different emission wavelengths in the 600-700 nm range. Our work sheds light on the nature and origin of these GaN defect emitters.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

Room temperature optically detected magnetic resonance of single spins in GaN

Optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) is an efficient mechanism to readout the spin of solid-state color centers at room temperature, thus enabling spin-based quantum sensors of magnetic field, electric field, and temperature with high sensitivity and broad commercial applicability. The mechanism of room temperature ODMR is based on spin-dependent relaxation between the optically excited states to the ground states, and thus it is an intrinsic property of a defect center. In this work we report that two distinct defect types exist in GaN based on their ODMR signatures. One group has small negative ODMR based on a spin in a metastable state. The second group has large (up to $\sim$30\%) positive ODMR contrast based on ground-state spin. Because GaN is a mature semiconductor with well-developed electronic technologies already developed, this defect platform is promising for integrated quantum sensing applications.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

Nanoscale magnetic field sensing with spin-Hall nano-oscillator devices

In this work, we develop a nanoscale magnetic field sensor based on a spin-Hall nano-oscillator (SHNO) device. We fabricate constriction-based SHNO devices using Ni$_{81}$Fe$_{19}$/Au$_{0.25}$Pt$_{0.75}$ bilayer and use them to demonstrate quasi-DC sensing up to kilohertz-scale frequencies under a bias field of 400 Oe in the sample plane. The magnetic field sensing is based on the linear dependence of SHNO oscillation frequency on external magnetic field. The detectivity of the sensor is as low as 0.21 $\mu$T/$\sqrt{\mbox{Hz}}$ at 100 Hz, with an effective sensing area of 0.32 $\mu$m$^2$, making SHNO devices suitable for scanning probe nanoscale magnetometry.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Strong photon-magnon coupling using a lithographically defined organic ferrimagnet

We demonstrate a hybrid quantum system composed of superconducting resonator photons and magnons hosted by the organic-based ferrimagnet vanadium tetracyanoethylene (V[TCNE]$_x$). Our work is motivated by the challenge of scalably integrating an arbitrarily-shaped, low-damping magnetic system with planar superconducting circuits, thus enabling a host of quantum magnonic circuit designs that were previously inaccessible. For example, by leveraging the inherent properties of magnons, one can enable nonreciprocal magnon-mediated quantum devices that use magnon propagation rather than electrical current. We take advantage of the properties of V[TCNE]$_x$, which has ultra-low intrinsic damping, can be grown at low processing temperatures on arbitrary substrates, and can be patterned via electron beam lithography. We demonstrate the scalable, lithographically integrated fabrication of hybrid quantum magnonic devices consisting of a thin-film superconducting resonator coupled to a low-damping, thin-film V[TCNE]$_x$ microstructure. Our devices operate in the strong coupling regime, with a cooperativity as high as 1181(44) at T$\sim$0.4 K, suitable for scalable quantum circuit integration. This work paves the way for the exploration of high-cooperativity hybrid magnonic quantum devices in which magnonic circuits can be designed and fabricated as easily as electrical wires.

quant-ph↗