Electric field quantum sensing exploiting a photogenerated charge-transfer-triplet state in an organic molecule

Journal article

Molecular spin systems are promising platforms for quantum sensing due to their chemically tunable Hamiltonians, enabling tailored coherence properties and interactions with external fields. However, electric field sensing remains challenging owing to typically weak spin-electric coupling (SEC) and limited directional sensitivity. Addressing these issues using heavy atoms exhibiting strong atomic spin-orbit couplings (SOC) often compromises spin coherence times. Here, we demonstrate coherent electric field sensing using a photogenerated charge-transfer (CT) spin triplet state in the organic molecule ACRSA (10-phenyl-10H,10'H-spiro[acridine-9,9'-anthracen]-10'-one). By embedding electric field pulses within a Hahn echo sequence, we coherently manipulate the spin triplet and extract both the magnitude and directional dependence of its SEC. The measured SEC strength is approximately 0.51 Hz/(V/m), comparable to values reported in systems with strong atomic SOC, illustrating that heavy atoms are not a prerequisite for electric-field sensitivity of spin states. Our findings position organic CT triplets as chemically versatile and directionally sensitive quantum sensors of E-fields that function without atomic-SOC-mediated mechanisms

Authors: Fontana, N; Vaganov, M; Moise, G; Myers, W; Peng, K

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: American Chemical Society
• Journal: Journal of the American Chemical Society
• Volume: 147
• Issue: 52
• Pages: 48028-48034
• Publication date: 2025-12-15
• Acceptance date: 2025-12-02
• DOI: 10.1021/jacs.5c13547
• EISSN: 1520-5126
• ISSN: 0002-7863
• Language: English