A hybrid magnetometer towards femtotesla sensitivity under ambient conditions

Detecting magnetic field is of great importance for many applications, such as magnetoencephalography and underground prospecting. There have been many magnetometers being widely used since the age of Hall magnetometer. One of the magnetometers, the superconducting quantum interference device, is capable of measuring femtotesla magnetic fields at cryogenic temperature. However, a solid-state magnetometer with femtotesla sensitivity under ambient conditions remains elusive. Here we present a hybrid magnetometer based on the ensemble nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond with the sensitivity of (195±60)fT/Hz1/2 under ambient conditions, which can be further advanced to 11fT/Hz1/2 at 100 Hz with cutting-edge fabrication technologies. Our method will find potential applications in biomagnetism and geomagnetism.