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Updated: Apr 20, 2026

Quantifying Mixing using Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Published on: January 25, 2012
Magnetic resonance detection of individual proton spins using quantum reporters
A O Sushkov1, I Lovchinsky2, N Chisholm3
1Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA and Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
Abstract:
We demonstrate a method of magnetic resonance imaging with single nuclear-spin sensitivity under ambient conditions. Our method employs isolated electronic-spin quantum bits (qubits) as magnetic resonance "reporters" on the surface of high purity diamond. These spin qubits are localized with nanometer-scale uncertainty, and their quantum state is coherently manipulated and measured optically via a proximal nitrogen-vacancy color center located a few nanometers below the diamond surface. This system is then used for sensing, coherent coupling, and imaging of individual proton spins on the diamond surface with angstrom resolution. Our approach may enable direct structural imaging of complex molecules that cannot be accessed from bulk studies. It realizes a new platform for probing novel materials, monitoring chemical reactions, and manipulation of complex systems on surfaces at a quantum level.
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