Omnidirectional magnetic imaging of magnetic anisotropy and phase transitions

Abstract

Micron scale imaging of magnetic fields is an important tool for understanding the evolution of magnetism through phase transitions and as a result of interactions inside of heterostructures. However, most imaging platforms, like the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centre in diamond, are restricted to applying magnetic fields along the quantisation axis of the quantum sensor. This greatly restricts the utility of these systems for exploring materials that emit strong fields or exhibit variable response with respect to the applied field direction. Here we explore an alternative approach using weakly coupled spin-pairs in hBN that exhibit a spin-1/2-like behaviour and an isotropic response to magnetic field. We demonstrate that the spin-pair system can operate in the presence of strong fields from a thin film magnet which were incompatible with NV diamond imaging even with applied fields along the quantisation axis. Further, we demonstrate that using this platform allows for imaging with an arbitrary applied magnetic field direction, allowing us to probe the anisotropy and spin-reorientation transition in the ferrimagnet TbMn$_6$Sn$_6$. Finally, we propose an improved geometry for imaging small anisotropy contributions such as crystalline anisotropy. These results demonstrate how this or similar spin-1/2 systems might be used for imaging magnetic materials that are incompatible with other techniques despite the reduction in sensitivity compared with NV in diamond imaging.