Curator's Take
This breakthrough in nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center imaging achieves an extraordinary feat: localizing individual quantum spins in diamond with sub-nanometer precision, roughly the size of a few atoms. The technique represents a major advance in quantum sensing capabilities, as NV centers are already among the most sensitive magnetic field detectors available, and this work pushes their spatial resolution to biological scales. The ability to precisely map single spins opens exciting possibilities for quantum-enhanced microscopy of living systems, potentially allowing researchers to track magnetic fields within individual proteins or cellular structures with unprecedented detail. This level of precision could bridge quantum sensing technology with life sciences applications, marking a significant step toward practical quantum sensors that could revolutionize how we study biological processes at the molecular level.
— Mark Eatherly
Summary
Solid-state spins in diamond are promising building blocks for quantum computing and quantum sensing, both of which require precise nanoscale addressing of individual spins. To explore the resolution limit of this approach, we demonstrate Fourier magnetic imaging of nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond under state-of-the-art conditions. We constructed a highly compact experimental platform featuring thermal drift compensation under ambient conditions and generated a pulsed magnetic field gradient of up to 13.5 G/$μ$m. By implementing the Fourier magnetic imaging protocol, we achieved localization of a single nitrogen-vacancy center with a spatial resolution of 0.28 $\pm$ 0.10 nm and a magnetic field measurement deviation of 9 nT. This technique holds potential for applications such as localizing spins within proteins and cells.