SiC-based quantum magnetometry is vital for advanced sensing fields because it offers a path to volume-compatible chips, but it is held back because its sensitivity is lower than other platforms like N-V diamond color centers. This study uses a planar 4H-SiC waveguide platform and wafer-scale fabrication to seamlessly integrate and excite large V2 ensembles. Notably, this streamlined layout achieves a shot-noise limit of 30 nT/√Hz, boosting sensitivity by 2–3 orders of magnitude over that of standard, confocal SiC methods while preserving coherent control.

Antiferromagnets are promising for fast, energy-efficient, high-density memory technologies, but their compensated spins make their domains difficult to image and control optically. The authors use magneto-optical birefringence imaging to show that a Pt capping layer enables ultrafast laser pulses to modify domains in insulating NiO and CoO films. Sweeping the beam generates a thermal gradient that drives domain walls toward colder regions, producing partial switching that can be reversed by changing the sweep direction. These findings provide a path toward optically controlled antiferromagnetic memory devices.

SiC-based quantum magnetometry is vital for advanced sensing fields because it offers a path to volume-compatible chips, but it is held back because its sensitivity is lower than other platforms like N-V diamond color centers. This study uses a planar 4H-SiC waveguide platform and wafer-scale fabrication to seamlessly integrate and excite large V2 ensembles. Notably, this streamlined layout achieves a shot-noise limit of 30 nT/√Hz, boosting sensitivity by 2–3 orders of magnitude over that of standard, confocal SiC methods while preserving coherent control.

Antiferromagnets are promising for fast, energy-efficient, high-density memory technologies, but their compensated spins make their domains difficult to image and control optically. The authors use magneto-optical birefringence imaging to show that a Pt capping layer enables ultrafast laser pulses to modify domains in insulating NiO and CoO films. Sweeping the beam generates a thermal gradient that drives domain walls toward colder regions, producing partial switching that can be reversed by changing the sweep direction. These findings provide a path toward optically controlled antiferromagnetic memory devices.