Extending magnetic resonance imaging to the atomic scale has been a long-standing aspiration, driven by the prospect of directly mapping atomic positions in molecules with three-dimensional spatial resolution. We report detection of individual, isolated proton spins by a nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in a diamond chip covered by an inorganic salt. The single-proton identity was confirmed by the Zeeman effect and by a quantum coherent rotation of the weakly coupled nuclear spin. Using the hyperfine field of the NV center as an imaging gradient, we determined proton-NV distances of less than 1 nm.

中文翻译：

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通过金刚石磁力测定法检测单质子自旋


将磁共振成像扩展到原子尺度一直是一个长期的愿望，受到以三维空间分辨率直接绘制分子中原子位置的前景的推动。我们报告了由无机盐覆盖的金刚石芯片中的氮空位（NV）中心检测到的单个孤立质子自旋。单质子身份通过塞曼效应和弱耦合核自旋的量子相干旋转得到证实。使用 NV 中心的超精细场作为成像梯度，我们确定质子-NV 距离小于 1 nm。