Phys.org November 7, 2022
Quantum microscopes for probing material properties and physical processes have relied on quantum defects hosted in rigid, three-dimensional (3D) crystals such as diamond, limiting their ability to closely interface with the sample. An international team of researchers (Australia, China) built a prototype quantum microscope embedding point defects within a thin layer of the van der Waals material hexagonal boron nitride. To show the multi-modal capabilities of this platform, they assembled two different heterostructures of a van der Waals material in combination with a quantum-active boron nitride flake and demonstrated time-resolved, simultaneous temperature and magnetic imaging near the Curie temperature of a van der Waals ferromagnet, as well as map out charge currents and Joule heating in an operating graphene device…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Quantum microscopy with spin defects in hBN. Credit: Nature Physics (2022)