QUROPE Quantum Information Processing and Communication in Europe

The SOLID group of J. Wrachtrup recently published a paper in Nature Nanotechnology in which they present the detection and identification of single and remote 13C nuclear spins embedded in nuclear spin baths surrounding a single electron spin of a nitrogen- vacancy centre in diamond. The group were able to amplify and detect the weak magnetic field noise (∼10 nT) from a single nuclear spin located ∼3 nm from the centre using dynamical decoupling control and achieve a detectable hyperfine coupling strength as weak as ∼300 Hz. They also confirmed the quantum nature of the coupling, and measured the spin-defect distance and the vector components of the nuclear field. The technique marks a step towards imaging, detecting and controlling nuclear spins in single molecules.