Christopher Foy, a recent PhD graduate from Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (EECS), gave the Nano Explorations talk on Tuesday, July 7, 2020.

Spin systems are an increasingly important quantum-sensing platform. In particular, atomic defect centers in diamond called nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers offer impressive room temperature imaging capabilities for both magnetic fields and temperature. NV-based sensing platforms have found utility in solid-state physics, biological systems, and vector magnetometry. These applications highlight the immense promise of NV quantum sensors. Despite this promise, the use of NV centers within commercial devices remains limited to date, with many impediments to transitioning this platform from the laboratory.

This talk describes the development of solid-state spin-integrated circuits (S3IC) for quantum sensing and control with the overarching goal of creating scalable NV platforms. We present two major experiments that develop S3IC. These expand the application space of NV centers and improve device functionality. The first application was to develop an NV spin microscope capable of wide-field temperature and magnetic field imaging to elucidate functional device behavior at the microscopic scale. The second experiment was integrating the essential components of an NV spin microscope, spin control and detection, with integrated electronics. In this manner, S3IC combines the exceptional sensitivity of NV centers with the robustness and scalability of modern electronic chip-scale platforms.

This co-integration of spin systems into integrated electronics shows a potential path for migrating previous proof-of-principal sensing demonstrations into affordable packages that demonstrate both much greater system integration and custom electronic architectures. In short, this work demonstrates advances in NV-ensemble quantum sensing platforms and establishes a foundation for future integration efforts, perhaps inspiring innovations in both application space and the development of new quantum devices.

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Nano Explorations is a virtual seminar series powered by MIT.nano that features presentations by MIT students on their work in nanoscience, nanotechnology, and other advanced research fields. The series was launched as a way to keep our nano community connected during the COVID-19 pandemic. Presentations take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11am EST and are open to any interested viewers.

Read more about past and upcoming Nano Explorations at mitnano.mit.edu/nano-explorations.