  Searching for new particles beyond the standard model is crucial for
understanding several fundamental conundrums in physics and astrophysics.
Amongst them, axions or similar hypothetical pseudoscalar bosons would mediate
electron-nucleon interactions. While previous experiments set stringent upper
bounds of this interaction strength with force range over $20 ~\mu$m,
experimental searching at shorter force range remains elusive. We develop a
method that utilizes a near-surface Nitrogen-vacancy center as a quantum sensor
to explore such interaction. New constraints for axion-mediated
electron-nucleon coupling, $g_s^Ng_p^e$, have been set for the force range $0.1
$--$23~\mu$m. The obtained upper bound of the interaction at $20~\mu$m,
$g_s^Ng_p^e < 6.24\times10^{-15}$, is two orders of magnitude more stringent
than that set by earlier experiments. Our method can be further extended to
investigate other spin-dependent interactions and opens the door for the
single-spin quantum sensor to explore new physics beyond the standard model.
