Optical widefield nuclear magnetic resonance microscopy.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 39900906.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-024-55003-5 and PMC identifier 11790880.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Microscopy enables detailed visualization and understanding of minute structures or processes. While cameras have significantly advanced optical, infrared, and electron microscopy, imaging nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) signals on a camera has remained elusive. Here, we employ nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond as a quantum sensor, which converts NMR signals into optical signals that are subsequently captured by a high-speed camera. Unlike traditional magnetic resonance imaging, our method records the NMR signal over a wide field of view in real space. We demonstrate that our optical widefield NMR microscopy can image NMR signals in microfluidic structures with a ~10 μm resolution across a ~235 × 150 μm<sup>2</sup> area. Crucially, each camera pixel records an NMR spectrum providing multicomponent information about the signal's amplitude, phase, local magnetic field strengths, and gradients. The fusion of optical microscopy and NMR techniques enables multifaceted imaging applications in the physical and life sciences.