Atomic-scale imaging of a 27-nuclear-spin cluster using a quantum sensor

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a powerful method for determining the structure of molecules and proteins . Whereas conventional NMR requires averaging over large ensembles, recent progress with single-spin quantum sensors has created the prospect of magnetic imaging of individual molecules . As...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 2019-12, Vol.576 (7787), p.411-415
Main Authors: Abobeih, M H, Randall, J, Bradley, C E, Bartling, H P, Bakker, M A, Degen, M J, Markham, M, Twitchen, D J, Taminiau, T H
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accuracy
Clusters
Clusters (Chemistry)
Complex systems
Connectivity
Diamonds
Fourier transforms
Imaging
Magnetic resonance
Magnetic resonance imaging
Methods
Molecular structure
NMR
Nuclear magnetic resonance
Nuclear spin
Quantum sensors
Sensors
Spectra
Spectral resolution
Spectroscopy
Spectrum analysis
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Summary:Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a powerful method for determining the structure of molecules and proteins . Whereas conventional NMR requires averaging over large ensembles, recent progress with single-spin quantum sensors has created the prospect of magnetic imaging of individual molecules . As an initial step towards this goal, isolated nuclear spins and spin pairs have been mapped . However, large clusters of interacting spins-such as those found in molecules-result in highly complex spectra. Imaging these complex systems is challenging because it requires high spectral resolution and efficient spatial reconstruction with sub-ångström precision. Here we realize such atomic-scale imaging using a single nitrogen vacancy centre as a quantum sensor, and demonstrate it on a model system of 27 coupled C nuclear spins in diamond. We present a multidimensional spectroscopy method that isolates individual nuclear-nuclear spin interactions with high spectral resolution (less than 80 millihertz) and high accuracy (2 millihertz). We show that these interactions encode the composition and inter-connectivity of the cluster, and develop methods to extract the three-dimensional structure of the cluster with sub-ångström resolution. Our results demonstrate a key capability towards magnetic imaging of individual molecules and other complex spin systems .
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/s41586-019-1834-7