Sensing distant nuclear spins with a single electron spin

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a method to detect and monitor distant nuclear spins using a single electron spin, enabling advances in nanoscale magnetic resonance and quantum information processing.

Contribution

The authors experimentally show how to use a single electron spin to sense distant nuclear spins with weak coupling, expanding quantum sensing capabilities.

Findings

Detected individual carbon-13 nuclear spins with hyperfine couplings below the electron spin dephasing rate.

Achieved coherent control of the electron spin to isolate and monitor weakly coupled nuclear spins.

Potential applications in nanoscale magnetic resonance imaging and quantum information processing.

Abstract

We experimentally demonstrate the use of a single electronic spin to measure the quantum dynamics of distant individual nuclear spins from within a surrounding spin bath. Our technique exploits coherent control of the electron spin, allowing us to isolate and monitor nuclear spins weakly coupled to the electron spin. Specifically, we detect the evolution of distant individual carbon-13 nuclear spins coupled to single nitrogen vacancy centers in a diamond lattice with hyperfine couplings down to a factor of 8 below the electronic spin bare dephasing rate. Potential applications to nanoscale magnetic resonance imaging and quantum information processing are discussed.