Electron spin resonance with up to 20 spin sensitivity measured using a superconducting flux qubit

Abstract

We report on electron spin resonance spectroscopy measurements using a superconducting flux qubit with a sensing volume of 6 fl. The qubit is read out using a frequency-tunable Josephson bifurcation amplifier, which leads to an inferred measurement sensitivity of about 20 spins in a 1 s measurement. This sensitivity represents an order of magnitude improvement when compared to flux-qubit schemes using a direct current-superconducting quantum interference device switching readout. Furthermore, noise spectroscopy reveals that the sensitivity is limited by flicker (1/f) flux noise.