Quantum Sensing and Quantum Emitters in 2D Magnetic Semiconductors - College of Engineering - Purdue University

Spin-sensitive defects or color centers in insulators (wide-gap semiconductors) have attracted great interests as a major platform for solid state quantum information. The best-known examples are NV centers in diamond, and more recently similar spin defect centers found in h-BN, a 2D/van-der-Waals (vdW) insulator. Such defect centers can function both as single-photon quantum emitters (with potential applications in quantum communication and networking), and quantum sensors (for magnetic/electric fields, temperature, strain etc.). The primary host materials so far, diamond and h-BN, are “conventional” insulators/semiconductors with no special magnetic properties in themselves. This project will explore a different class of host materials, various 2D/vdW ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic semiconductors (such as CrSBr, CrI3, CrPSe4 and transition metal tri-chalcogenides), which allow intriguing light-emitter centers created (by irradiated defects, localized excitons etc.) and interesting magnetic/spintronic properties in the same material. The project will involve materials synthesis and fabrication, optical/magnetic and spin resonance characterizations, and quantum photonics/sensing measurements (including using these spin defect centers to self-sense novel magnetism and excitations in these materials). The project will bridge two fields, solid state quantum information (quantum sensing and photonics) with spintronics and magnetic semiconductors together in the same host material.