All-optical sensing of a single-molecule electron spin

We demonstrate an all-optical method for magnetic sensing of individual molecules in ambient conditions at room temperature. Our approach is based on shallow nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers near the surface of a diamond crystal, which we use to detect single paramagnetic molecules covalently attached...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Veröffentlicht in:arXiv.org 2013-11
Hauptverfasser: Sushkov, A O, Chisholm, N, Lovchinsky, I, Kubo, M, Lo, P K, Bennett, S D, Hunger, D, Akimov, A, Walsworth, R L, Park, H, Lukin, M D
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:Volltext
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:We demonstrate an all-optical method for magnetic sensing of individual molecules in ambient conditions at room temperature. Our approach is based on shallow nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers near the surface of a diamond crystal, which we use to detect single paramagnetic molecules covalently attached to the diamond surface. The manipulation and readout of the NV centers is all-optical and provides a sensitive probe of the magnetic field fluctuations stemming from the dynamics of the electronic spins of the attached molecules. As a specific example, we demonstrate detection of a single paramagnetic molecule containing a gadolinium (Gd\(^{3+}\)) ion. We confirm single-molecule resolution using optical fluorescence and atomic force microscopy to co-localize one NV center and one Gd\(^{3+}\)-containing molecule. Possible applications include nanoscale and in vivo magnetic spectroscopy and imaging of individual molecules.
ISSN:2331-8422
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.1311.1801