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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通过金刚石磁力法检测单质子自旋

在以三维空间分辨率直接映射分子中原子位置的前景的推动下，将磁共振成像扩展到原子尺度一直是一个长期的愿望。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。塞曼效应和弱耦合核自旋的量子相干旋转证实了单质子身份。使用 NV 中心的超精细场作为成像梯度，我们确定了小于 1 nm 的质子-NV 距离。