Research Projects

Advancements in nanometre-scale magnetic imaging and tailored materials offer an opportunity to study the physics of correlated states in condensed matter. Layer-by-layer materials engineering allows for testing hypotheses on superconductivity, magnetism, and associated phenomena. However, this control comes with greater sensitivity to disorder and inhomogeneity. Local measurements, with sensors smaller than the disorder's length scale, are crucial for understanding the system in such a delicate environment. Nanoscale magnetic imaging techniques can be used to scan spatially varying magnetization and charge transport, providing important local information on quantum phases, domain presence, and defect function. Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamonds are atomic-scale spin systems with remarkable quantum properties that persist at room temperature. They are highly sensitive to changes in external magnetic, electric, and thermal environments, making them excellent nanoscale sensors. An NV centre-based widefield magnetic microscope has been developed to enhance spatial resolution and per-pixel magnetic field sensitivity of the quantum diamond microscope and extend its capability from DC sensing to AC wide-field magnetic field microscopy. This AC wide-field magnetic microscope could be useful for applications in ferromagnetic susceptibility imaging, microscale nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, living cell imaging, and other problems.