Spin squeezing in an ensemble of nitrogen–vacancy centres in diamond

Spin-squeezed states provide a seminal example of how the structure of quantum mechanical correlations can be controlled to produce metrologically useful entanglement1–7. These squeezed states have been demonstrated in a wide variety of quantum systems ranging from atoms in optical cavities to trapped ion crystals8–16. By contrast, despite their numerous advantages as practical sensors, spin ensembles in solid-state materials have yet to be controlled with sufficient precision to generate targeted entanglement such as spin squeezing. Here we report the experimental demonstration of spin squeezing in a solid-state spin system. Our experiments are performed on a strongly interacting ensemble of nitrogen–vacancy colour centres in diamond at room temperature, and squeezing (−0.50 ± 0.13 dB) below the noise of uncorrelated spins is generated by the native magnetic dipole–dipole interaction between nitrogen–vacancy centres. To generate and detect squeezing in a solid-state spin system, we overcome several challenges. First, we develop an approach, using interaction-enabled noise spectroscopy, to characterize the quantum projection noise in our system without directly resolving the spin probability distribution. Second, noting that the random positioning of spin defects severely limits the generation of spin squeezing, we implement a pair of strategies aimed at isolating the dynamics of a relatively ordered sub-ensemble of nitrogen–vacancy centres. Our results open the door to entanglement-enhanced metrology using macroscopic ensembles of optically active spins in solids.