Tag Archives: Patrick Maletinsky

Nano (?) diamonds used in mechanical system to control quantum states

We do end up back in the world of spin but, first, there are the nano (I think) diamonds in an Aug. 3, 2015 news item on Nanotechnology Now,

Scientists at the Swiss Nanoscience Institute at the University of Basel have used resonators made from single-crystalline diamonds to develop a novel device in which a quantum system is integrated into a mechanical oscillating system. For the first time, the researchers were able to show that this mechanical system can be used to coherently manipulate an electron spin embedded in the resonator – without external antennas or complex microelectronic structures. …

A July 16, 2014 University of Basel press release (also on EurekAlert), which originated the news item, provides more detail about the work,

In previous publications, the research team led by Georg H. Endress Professor Patrick Maletinsky described how resonators made from single-crystalline diamonds with individually embedded electrons are highly suited to addressing the spin of these electrons. These diamond resonators were modified in multiple instances so that a carbon atom from the diamond lattice was replaced with a nitrogen atom in their crystal lattices with a missing atom directly adjacent. In these “nitrogen-vacancy centers,” individual electrons are trapped. Their “spin” or intrinsic angular momentum is examined in this research.

When the resonator now begins to oscillate, strain develops in the diamond’s crystal structure. This, in turn, influences the spin of the electrons, which can indicate two possible directions (“up” or “down”) when measured. The direction of the spin can be detected with the aid of fluorescence spectroscopy.

Extremely fast spin oscillation

In this latest publication, the scientists have shaken the resonators in a way that allows them to induce a coherent oscillation of the coupled spin for the first time. This means that the spin of the electrons switches from up to down and vice versa in a controlled and rapid rhythm and that the scientists can control the spin status at any time. This spin oscillation is fast compared with the frequency of the resonator. It also protects the spin against harmful decoherence mechanisms.

It is conceivable that this diamond resonator could be applied to sensors – potentially in a highly sensitive way – because the oscillation of the resonator can be recorded via the altered spin. These new findings also allow the spin to be coherently rotated over a very long period of close to 100 microseconds, making the measurement more precise. Nitrogen-vacancy centers could potentially also be used to develop a quantum computer. In this case, the quick manipulation of its quantum states demonstrated in this work would be a decisive advantage.

Unfortunately, the researchers do not indicate the measurement scale for the diamonds so I’m guessing, given the descriptions, that these were nanoscale diamonds being used in the research.

In any event, here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

Strong mechanical driving of a single electron spin by A. Barfuss, J. Teissier, E. Neu, A. Nunnenkamp, & P. Maletinsky. Nature Physics (2015)  doi:10.1038/nphys3411 Published online 03 August 2015

This paper is behind a paywall.

Measuring a singular spin of a biological molecule

I gather there are some Swiss scientists excited about obtaining experimental proof for room temperature detection of a  biological molecule’s spin. From a May 11, 2015 news item on Nanowerk (Note: A link has been removed),

Physicists of the University of Basel and the Swiss Nanoscience Institute were able to show for the first time that the nuclear spins of single molecules can be detected with the help of magnetic particles at room temperature.

In Nature Nanotechnology (“High-efficiency resonant amplification of weak magnetic fields for single spin magnetometry at room temperature”), the researchers describe a novel experimental setup with which the tiny magnetic fields of the nuclear spins of single biomolecules – undetectable so far – could be registered for the first time. The proposed concept would improve medical diagnostics as well as analyses of biological and chemical samples in a decisive step forward.

A May 11, 2015 University of Basel press release, which originated the news item, explains why the researchers are excited about a ‘room temperature’ approach to measuring a nuclear spin,

The measurement of nuclear spins is routine by now in medical diagnostics (MRI). However, the currently existing devices need billions of atoms for the analysis and thus are not useful for many small-scale applications. Over many decades, scientists worldwide have thus engaged in an intense search for alternative methods, which would improve the sensitivity of the measurement techniques.

With the help of various types of sensors (SQUID- and Hall-sensors) and with magnetic resonance force microscopes, it has become possible to detect spins of single electrons and achieve structural resolution at the nanoscale. However, the detection of single nuclear spins of complex biological samples – the holy grail in the field – has not been possible so far.

Diamond crystals with tiny defects

The researchers from Basel now investigate the application of sensors made out of diamonds that host tiny defects in their crystal structure. In the crystal lattice of the diamond a Carbon atom is replaced by a Nitrogen atom, with a vacant site next to it. These so-called Nitrogen-Vacancy (NV) centers generate spins, which are ideally suited for detection of magnetic fields. At room temperature, researchers have shown experimentally in many labs before that with such NV centers resolution of single molecules is possible. However, this requires atomistically close distances between sensor and sample, which is not possible for biological material.

A tiny ferromagnetic particle, placed between sample and NV center, can solve this problem. Indeed, if the nuclear spin of the sample is driven at a specific resonance frequency, the resonance of the ferromagnetic particle changes. With the help of an NV center that is in close proximity of the magnetic particle, the scientists can then detect this modified resonance.

Measuring technology breakthrough?

The theoretical analysis and experimental techniques of the researchers in the teams of Prof. Daniel Loss and Prof. Patrick Maletinsky have shown that the use of such ferromagnetic particles can lead to a ten-thousand-fold amplification of the magnetic field of nuclear spins. „I am confident that our concept will soon be implemented in real systems and will lead to a breakthrough in metrology“ [science of measurement], comments Daniel Loss the recent publication, where the first author Dr. Luka Trifunovic, postdoc in the Loss team, made essential contributions and which was performed in collaboration with colleagues from the JARA Institute for Quantum Information (Aachen, Deutschland) and the Harvard University (Cambridge, USA).

Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

High-efficiency resonant amplification of weak magnetic fields for single spin magnetometry at room temperature by  Luka Trifunovic, Fabio L. Pedrocchi, Silas Hoffman, Patrick Maletinsky, Amir Yacoby, & Daniel Loss. Nature Nanotechnology (2015) doi:10.1038/nnano.2015.74 Published online 11 May 2015

This paper is behind a paywall.