Decisive experimental confirmation of the U(1) quantum spin liquid phase in quantum spin ice remains an outstanding challenge. In this Letter, we propose stray-field magnetometry as a direct probe of the emergent photons—the gapless excitation of the emergent electrodynamics in quantum spin ice. The emergent photons are transverse magnetization waves, which, in a finite sample, form discrete modes governed by one of two sets of natural boundary conditions: “insulating” or “superconducting.” Considering cavity and thin film geometries, we find that the spectrum and spatial structure of the stray magnetic noise provide a sharp qualitative signature of the underlying electrodynamics. The predicted stray-field noise power lies comfortably within the detection range of present-day solid-state defect magnetometry.

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• Boundary layers
• Cavity quantum electrodynamics
• Magnetism
• Magnetometry
• Quantum field theory (low energy)
• Quantum spin liquid
• Spin liquid
• Multilayer thin films
• Nitrogen vacancy centers in diamond
• SQUID
• Spin ice
• Effective field theory
• Electromagnetic wave theory
• Gauge theory techniques
• Maxwell's equations
• Noise measurements
• Spin lattice models
• Spin noise spectroscopy