Engineering twisting dynamics in a solid-state spin ensemble

Solid state qubits such as nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers in diamond are powerful systems for quantum sensing. Although one can in principle use interactions between defects to enhance sensing, such demonstrations have typically been relegated to systems such as ultracold atomic ensembles, which are challenging to use as sensors under ambient conditions or near many sensing targets of interest. We show a crucial step toward interaction-enhanced sensing in the solid state by engineering one and two-axis twisting dynamics within a 2-dimensional layer of NV centers at room temperature. In order to achieve the required interaction Hamiltonian while maintaining a high-quality readout, we implement a novel magnetic field pulsing technique that allows us to rapidly change the NV quantization axis. These results represent a key step toward interaction-enhanced quantum sensing at room temperature.