  Defects in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), a two-dimensional van der Waals
material, have raised wide range interest for its potential in various quantum
applications. Due to hBN's 2D nature, spin center in hBN can be engineered in
close proximity to target material, providing advantages over their 3D
counterparts, such as nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond. Here we propose
a novel quantum sensing protocol driven by exchange interaction between spin
center in hBN and the underlying magnetic substrate induced by magnetic
proximity effect. By first-principle calculation, we demonstrate the induced
exchange interaction dominates over dipole-dipole interaction by orders of
magnitude when in proximity. The interaction remains antiferromagnetic across
all stacking configuration between the spin center in hBN and the target van
der Waals magnets. Additionally, we explored the scaling behavior of the
exchange field as a function of the spatial separation between the spin center
and the targets.
