Nanoscale nuclear magnetic resonance with a nitrogen-vacancy spin sensor.

Mamin, H J; Kim, M; Sherwood, M H; Rettner, C T; Ohno, K; Awschalom, D D; Rugar, D · Science · 2013

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Extension of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to nanoscale samples has been a longstanding challenge because of the insensitivity of conventional detection methods. We demonstrated the use of an individual, near-surface nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond as a sensor to detect proton NMR in an organic sample located external to the diamond. Using a combination of electron spin echoes and proton spin manipulation, we showed that the NV center senses the nanotesla field fluctuations from the protons, enabling both time-domain and spectroscopic NMR measurements on the nanometer scale.