Toeno van der Sar: Probing spin waves using single electron spins

Abstract: Spin waves are the elementary spin excitations of magnetic materials and may play a key role in future information processing. They can be probed via the magnetic fields they generate, but this requires a technique with high sensitivity and nanometre sensor-sample distances. The excellent magnetic-field sensitivity of nitrogen-vacancy sensor spins in diamond provides a unique window into spin-wave physics. In my postdoc, I developed techniques to detect localized spin-wave resonances and thermally excited spin waves on the nanoscale, and recently achieved the detection of a spin-wave chemical potential. These results open up exciting possibilities for nanoscale imaging and control of spin transport in mesoscopic spin systems.