Optically Addressable Molecular Spins at 2D Surfaces

Quantum Physics arXiv:2601.19988 (quant-ph) [Submitted on 27 Jan 2026] Title:Optically Addressable Molecular Spins at 2D Surfaces Authors:Xuankai Zhou, Yan-Tung Kong, Cheuk Kit Cheung, Guodong Bian, Reda Moukaouine, King Cho Wong, Yumeng Sun, Cheng-I Ho, Vladislav Bushmakin, Nils Gross, Chun-Chieh Yen, Tim Priessnitz, Malik Lenger, Sreehari Jayaram, Takashi Taniguchi, Kenji Watanabe, Anton Pershin, Ruoming Peng, Ádám Gali, Jurgen Smet, Jörg Wrachtrup View a PDF of the paper titled Optically Addressable Molecular Spins at 2D Surfaces, by Xuankai Zhou and 20 other authors View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract:Optically addressable spins at material surfaces have represented a long-standing ambition in quantum sensing, providing atomic resolution and quantum-limited sensitivity. However, they are constrained by a finite depth at which the quantum spins can be stabilized. Here, we demonstrate a hybrid molecular-2D architecture that realizes quantum spin sensors directly on top of the surface. By anchoring spin-active molecules onto hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), we eliminate the depth of the quantum sensor while also exhibiting robust spin properties from 4~K to room temperature (RT). The Hahn-echo spin coherence time exceeds \(T_2 = 3.4~\upmu\text{s}\) at 4~K, outperforming values in bulk organic crystals and overturning the prevailing expectation that spin inevitably deteriorates upon approaching the surface. By chemically tuning the molecule through deuteration, \(T_2\) improves by more than 10-fold, and under dynamic decoupling, coherence is prolonged to the intrinsic lifetime limit, exceeding 300~\(\upmu\text{s}\). Proximal proton spins and the magnetic response of two-dimensional magnets beneath the hBN layer have been detected at RT. These molecular spins form surface quantum sensors with long coherence, optical addressability, and interfacial versatility, enabling a scalable, adaptable architecture beyond what conventional solid-state platforms offer. Subjects: Quantum Physics (quant-ph); Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) Cite as: arXiv:2601.19988 [quant-ph] (or arXiv:2601.19988v1 [quant-ph] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2601.19988 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration) Submission history From: Ruoming Peng [view email] [v1] Tue, 27 Jan 2026 19:00:06 UTC (13,410 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View a PDF of the paper titled Optically Addressable Molecular Spins at 2D Surfaces, by Xuankai Zhou and 20 other authorsView PDFHTML (experimental)TeX Source view license Current browse context: quant-ph new | recent | 2026-01 Change to browse by: cond-mat cond-mat.mtrl-sci References & Citations INSPIRE HEP NASA ADSGoogle Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Loading... BibTeX formatted citation × loading... Data provided by: Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer (What is the Explorer?) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers (What is Connected Papers?) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps (What is Litmaps?) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations (What are Smart Citations?) Code, Data, Media Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article alphaXiv Toggle alphaXiv (What is alphaXiv?) Links to Code Toggle CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers (What is CatalyzeX?) DagsHub Toggle DagsHub (What is DagsHub?) GotitPub Toggle Gotit.pub (What is GotitPub?) Huggingface Toggle Hugging Face (What is Huggingface?) Links to Code Toggle Papers with Code (What is Papers with Code?) ScienceCast Toggle ScienceCast (What is ScienceCast?) Demos Demos Replicate Toggle Replicate (What is Replicate?) Spaces Toggle Hugging Face Spaces (What is Spaces?) Spaces Toggle TXYZ.AI (What is TXYZ.AI?) Related Papers Recommenders and Search Tools Link to Influence Flower Influence Flower (What are Influence Flowers?) Core recommender toggle CORE Recommender (What is CORE?) Author Venue Institution Topic About arXivLabs arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them. Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs. Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax (What is MathJax?)