Two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals crystals with unconventional magnetic and electrical properties have been a rising topic of modern magnetism and spintronics research over the past years. Currently, there is ongoing intense activity to develop and understand this new family of magnetic materials, as well as to create new ones. The success of these efforts relies simultaneously on advances in theory, material synthesis, and development of new, sensitive metrology tools capable of evaluating the key material properties at the unprecedented length scale. Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers, optically active atomic spin defects in diamond, are naturally relevant in this context due to their excellent quantum coherence, highly competitive spatial and field sensitivity, and remarkable functionalities over a broad range of experimental conditions. In this talk, I will present our recent work on using NV centers to perform nanoscale quantum sensing and imaging of 2D magnetic quantum matter. Specifically, we have utilized NV centers to visualize the exotic spin properties of layered, topological magnetic materials [1, 2] and moiré magnetism hosted by twisted van der Waals magnets [3], revealing the rich physics underlying exotic spin transport and dynamic behaviors in reduced dimensionality. Lastly, I will also briefly discuss our ongoing efforts on exploring next-generation van der Waals quantum sensing technologies using color centers beyond NVs [4].

References:
1. N. J. McLaughlin et al., Nano Lett. 22, 5810 (2022).
2. N. J. McLaughlin et al., Nano Lett. 21, 7277 (2021).
3. M. Huang et al., Nat. Commun. 14, 5259 (2023).
4. M. Huang et al., Nat. Commun. 13, 5369 (2022).

Short Bio: Chunhui Du is an Assistant Professor of Physics at Georgia Institute of Technology. She received her B.S. in physics from East China Normal University in 2010, and Ph.D. in Physics from The Ohio State University in 2015. She worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University from 2015 to 2019. Chunhui’s current research focuses on developing color center-based quantum sensing tools to study emergent condensed matter physics. Chunhui Du has received the National Science Foundation (NSF) Career Award (2021), Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) Young Investigator Award (2021), Department of Energy (DOE) Early Career Award (2022), Office of Naval Research (ONR) Young Investigator Award (2023), and International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) Early Career Scientist Prize (2022).