Quantum mechanics

Diamond

Magnetic field

Magnetometer

Materials science

Nuclear physics

Liquid nitrogen

Spins

Physics

Nanotechnology

Superconductivity

Condensed matter physics

Composite material

Electron

Nanoscopic scale

Engineering physics

Nature Reviews Materials

The magnetic fields generated by spins and currents provide a unique window into the physics of correlated-electron materials and devices. Proposed only a decade ago, magnetometry based on the electron spin of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) defects in diamond is emerging as a platform that is excellently suited for probing condensed matter systems: it can be operated from cryogenic temperatures to above room temperature, has a dynamic range spanning from DC to GHz, and allows sensor-sample distances as small as a few nanometres. As such, NV magnetometry provides access to static and dynamic magnetic and electronic phenomena with nanoscale spatial resolution. Pioneering work focused on proof-of-principle demonstrations of its nanoscale imaging resolution and magnetic field sensitivity. Now, experiments are starting to probe the correlated-electron physics of magnets and superconductors and to explore the current distributions in low-dimensional materials. In this Review, we discuss the application of NV magnetometry to the exploration of condensed matter physics, focusing on its use to study static and dynamic magnetic textures, and static and dynamic current distributions.

Probing condensed matter physics with magnetometry based on nitrogen-vacancy centres in diamond