New Constraints on Exotic Spin-Dependent Interactions with an Ensemble-NV-Diamond Magnetometer

Abstract

Abstract Laboratory search of exotic interactions is crucial for exploring physics beyond the Standard Model. We report new experimental constraints on two exotic spin-dependent interactions at the micrometer scale based on ensembles of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond. A thin layer of NV electronic spin ensembles is synthesized as the solid-state spin quantum sensor, and a lead sphere is taken as the interacting nucleon source. Our result establishes new bounds for two types of exotic spin interactions at the micrometer scale. For an exotic parity-odd spin- and velocity-dependent interaction, improved bounds are set within the force range from 5 to 500 μm. The upper limit of the corresponding coupling constant $g_A^eg_V^N$ at 330 μm is more than 1000-fold more stringent than the previous constraint. For the P, T-violating scalar-pseudoscalar nucleon-electron interaction, improved constraints are established within the force range from 6 to 45 μm. The limit of the corresponding coupling constant $g_S^Ng_P^e$ is improved by more than one order of magnitude at 30 μm. This work demonstrates that a solid-state NV ensemble can be a powerful platform for probing exotic spin-dependent interactions.