Room Temperature Relaxometry of Single Nitrogen Vacancy Centers in Proximity to α-RuCl<sub>3</sub> Nanoflakes.

Kumar, Jitender; Yudilevich, Dan; Smooha, Ariel; Zohar, Inbar; Pariari, Arnab K; Stöhr, Rainer; Denisenko, Andrej; Hücker, Markus et al. · Nano Lett · 2024

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Nitrogen vacancy (NV) center-based magnetometry has been proven to be a versatile sensor for various classes of magnetic materials in broad temperature and frequency ranges. Here, we use the longitudinal relaxation time <i>T</i><sub>1</sub> of single NV centers to investigate the spin dynamics of nanometer-thin flakes of α-RuCl<sub>3</sub> at room temperature. We observe a significant reduction in the <i>T</i><sub>1</sub> in the presence of α-RuCl<sub>3</sub> in the proximity of NVs, which we attribute to paramagnetic spin noise confined in the 2D hexagonal planes. Furthermore, the <i>T</i><sub>1</sub> time exhibits a monotonic increase with an applied magnetic field. We associate this trend with the alteration of the spin and charge noise in α-RuCl<sub>3</sub> under an external magnetic field. These findings suggest that the influence of the spin dynamics of α-RuCl<sub>3</sub> on the <i>T</i><sub>1</sub> of the NV center can be used to gain information about the material itself and the technique to be used on other 2D materials.