Probing Defects and Dynamics in 2D Materials Using Single Nitrogen Vacancy Centers in Diamond

Covalently-bonded defects on graphene have been demonstrated to induce local magnetic moments. However, aspects of this system remain controversial, in part due to the existence of few techniques for probing defect magnetism directly and with nanoscale spatial resolution. Nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers in diamond can be used as sensitive nanoscale magnetometers capable of measuring the magnetic field of an individual electronic spin on or near the surface of diamond. This presents the opportunity to study small clusters of coupled electronic spins in two dimensional materials, and to probe electronic systems in the vicinity of an individual Kondo impurity. Here I describe the photochemical production of covalently-bonded defects in graphene and the characterization of their stability in conditions necessary for NV sensing, as well as proposals to modulate and study their properties using electrical doping and near-surface NV centers in diamond. In addition, I will describe an ongoing effort to use NV centers and a quantum memory-enhanced sensing protocol to study spin dynamics in a layered 2D material on the surface of diamond, which constitutes a variable-dimension system of strongly-interacting dipoles.