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Atomic-scale magnetometry of distant nuclear spin clusters via nitrogen-vacancy spin in diamond

Nature Nanotechnology volume 6, pages 242–246 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

The detection of single nuclear spins is an important goal in magnetic resonance spectroscopy1,2. Optically detected magnetic resonance can detect single nuclear spins that are strongly coupled to an electron spin3,4,5,6,7,8,9, but the detection of distant nuclear spins that are only weakly coupled to the electron spin has not been considered feasible. Here, using the nitrogen–vacancy centre in diamond3,4,5,6,7,8 as a model system, we numerically demonstrate that it is possible to detect two or more distant nuclear spins that are weakly coupled to a centre electron spin if these nuclear spins are strongly bonded to each other in a cluster. This cluster will stand out from other nuclear spins by virtue of characteristic oscillations imprinted onto the electron spin decoherence profile10,11, which become pronounced under dynamical decoupling control12. Under many-pulse dynamical decoupling, the centre electron spin coherence can be used to measure nuclear magnetic resonances of single molecules. This atomic-scale magnetometry should improve the performance of magnetic resonance spectroscopy for applications in chemical, biological, medical and materials research13,14, and could also have applications in solid-state quantum computing3,4,5,6,7,8.

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Figure 1: NV centre spin decoherence due to nuclear spin pair dynamics in diamond.
Figure 2: Fingerprint features of nuclear spin dimers.
Figure 3: Double-blind numerical experiment for identifying a hidden dimer.
Figure 4: Nuclear magnetic resonances of single molecules.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Hong Kong Research Grants Council/General Research Fund (CUHK402410 and CUHK402207), The Chinese University of Hong Kong Focused Investments Scheme, Hong Kong Research Grants Council (HKU10/CRF/08) and National Natural Science Foundation of China Project 11028510.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics and Center for Quantum Coherence, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong, China

    Nan Zhao, Jian-Liang Hu, Sai-Wah Ho, Jones T. K. Wan & R. B. Liu

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  1. Nan Zhao
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  2. Jian-Liang Hu
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  3. Sai-Wah Ho
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  4. Jones T. K. Wan
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  5. R. B. Liu
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Contributions

R.B.L. conceived the idea. R.B.L. and N.Z. designed the project, formulated the theory, and wrote the paper. N.Z., J.L.H. and S.W.H. calculated electron spin decoherence. J.T.K.W. did the first-principles calculation of the hyperfine constants. All authors read and commented on the manuscript.

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Correspondence to R. B. Liu.

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Zhao, N., Hu, JL., Ho, SW. et al. Atomic-scale magnetometry of distant nuclear spin clusters via nitrogen-vacancy spin in diamond. Nature Nanotech 6, 242–246 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2011.22

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