Congratulations to CMRI PGR Charlie Patrickson on his paper “High frequency magnetometry with an ensemble of spin qubits in hexagonal boron nitride” which has been published in npj Quantum Information. This work is Charlie’s first publication and includes CMRI alumni Dr Simon Baber and senior lecturer Dr Isaac Luxmoore as co-authors.
In this paper, Charlie and colleagues are able to extend the qubits (‘quantum bits’) coherence time in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) at room temperature for use in high frequency AC magnetic field sensors. These sensors could be used for a variety of purposes from monitoring reactions in cells to more accurate estimation of driving range in electric vehicle batteries.
Charlie gives his thoughts on the research below:
These types of spin system couple strongly to magnetic fields, with natural GHz resonances that can be down-converted to the MHz regime with appropriate control protocols. This makes them ideal candidates for sensors of microwave circuitry, or for novel NMR applications, for example. Of particular significance here though, is the 2D nature of the host material, hexagonal boron nitride. This could enable nanoscale sensing proximities, with the potential to detect signals from individual nuclear spins in proteins, or biomolecules. It’s also been my first paper as lead author, and so represents quite an important milestone in my academic journey!
