Three-dimensional localization spectroscopy of individual nuclear spins with sub-Angstrom resolution

TL;DR

This paper introduces a high-precision 3D localization spectroscopy technique for individual nuclear spins with sub-Angstrom accuracy, enabling detailed atomic-scale mapping of molecules using nanoscale NMR.

Contribution

The authors develop a method to localize nuclear spins in three dimensions with sub-Angstrom resolution, surpassing previous spatial resolution limits in nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Findings

Achieved sub-Angstrom spatial resolution in nuclear spin localization.

Demonstrated three-dimensional mapping of nuclear spins beyond 10 Angstroms.

Constrained Fermi contact interactions via nuclear g-factor measurements.

Abstract

We report on precise localization spectroscopy experiments of individual 13C nuclear spins near a central electronic sensor spin in a diamond chip. By detecting the nuclear free precession signals in rapidly switchable external magnetic fields, we retrieve the three-dimensional spatial coordinates of the nuclear spins with sub-Angstrom resolution and for distances beyond 10 Angstroms. We further show that the Fermi contact contribution can be constrained by measuring the nuclear g-factor enhancement. The presented method will be useful for mapping the atomic-scale structure of single molecules, an ambitious yet important goal of nanoscale nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.