Wide Field Imaging of Low-dimensional Magnetism by 2D Spin Defects

Quantum sensing using atomic spin defects serves as a transformative method to explore the local magnetic properties of solid-state systems with optimal spatial and field sensitivity. The flourishing catalog of van der Waals two-dimensional (2D) materials has provided a diverse new playground to enrich this field. In comparison with their conventional counterparts imbedded in three-dimensional solid-state-media, spin defects hosted by 2D materials exhibit improved versatility and remarkable compatibility to device integration. In this work, we report nanoscale quantum sensing and imaging of exfoliated 2D ferromagnet Fe3GeTe2 flakes by boron vacancy spin defects in an adjacent hexagonal boron nitride capping layer. Exploiting the wide field magnetometry method, we directly imaged the local magnetic texture of the Fe3GeTe2 flake and its characteristic temperature and field dependent magnetization evolution behavior. We highlight that the presented quantum sensing platform can be extended naturally to a large family of miniaturized 2D van der Waals heterostructures, bringing ample opportunities to the forefront research of quantum material and quantum sensing.