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ABSTRACT The nitrogen-vacancy defect centre in diamond1,2,3,4 has potential applications in nanoscale electric and magnetic-field sensing2,3,4,5,6, single-photon microscopy7,8, quantum
information processing9 and bioimaging10. These applications rely on the ability to position a single nitrogen-vacancy centre within a few nanometres of a sample, and then scan it across the
sample surface, while preserving the centre's spin coherence and readout fidelity. However, existing scanning techniques, which use a single diamond nanocrystal grafted onto the tip of
a scanning probe microscope2,8,11,12, suffer from short spin coherence times due to poor crystal quality, and from inefficient far-field collection of the fluorescence from the
nitrogen-vacancy centre. Here, we demonstrate a robust method for scanning a single nitrogen-vacancy centre within tens of nanometres from a sample surface that addresses both of these
concerns. This is achieved by positioning a single nitrogen-vacancy centre at the end of a high-purity diamond nanopillar, which we use as the tip of an atomic force microscope. Our approach
ensures long nitrogen-vacancy spin coherence times (∼75 µs), enhanced nitrogen-vacancy collection efficiencies due to waveguiding, and mechanical robustness of the device (several weeks of
scanning time). We are able to image magnetic domains with widths of 25 nm, and demonstrate a magnetic field sensitivity of 56 nT Hz–1/2 at a frequency of 33 kHz, which is unprecedented for
scanning nitrogen-vacancy centres. Access through your institution Buy or subscribe This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution ACCESS OPTIONS Access through your
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our FAQs * Contact customer support SIMILAR CONTENT BEING VIEWED BY OTHERS NANOSCALE ELECTRIC FIELD IMAGING WITH AN AMBIENT SCANNING QUANTUM SENSOR MICROSCOPE Article Open access 09
September 2022 NANOSCALE ELECTRIC-FIELD IMAGING BASED ON A QUANTUM SENSOR AND ITS CHARGE-STATE CONTROL UNDER AMBIENT CONDITION Article Open access 28 April 2021 WIDE-FIELD MAGNETOMETRY USING
NITROGEN-VACANCY COLOR CENTERS WITH RANDOMLY ORIENTED MICRO-DIAMONDS Article Open access 26 October 2022 REFERENCES * Chernobrod, B. M. & Berman, G. P. Spin microscope based on
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Coherent dynamics of coupled electron and nuclear spin qubits in diamond. _Science_ 314, 281–285 (2006). Article CAS Google Scholar Download references ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors thank
B.D. Terris and N. Supper from Hitachi GST for providing the magnetic recording samples. P.M. acknowledges support from the Swiss National Science Foundation and S.H. thanks the Kwanjeong
Scholarship Foundation for funding. M.S.G. is supported by fellowships from the Department of Defense (NDSEG programme) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). This work was supported by
NIST and DARPA QuEST and QuASAR programmes and in part was performed at the Center for Nanoscale Systems (CNS), a member of the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN), which
is supported by the NSF (under award no. ECS–0335765). CNS is part of Harvard University. AUTHOR INFORMATION Author notes * P. Maletinsky, S. Hong and M. S. Grinolds: These authors
contributed equally to this work AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, 02138, Massachusetts, USA P. Maletinsky, M. S. Grinolds, M. D. Lukin, R. L.
Walsworth & A. Yacoby * School of Engineering and Applied Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, 02138, Massachusetts, USA S. Hong, B. Hausmann & M. Loncar * Harvard–Smithsonian
Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, 02138, Massachusetts, USA R. L. Walsworth Authors * P. Maletinsky View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar *
S. Hong View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * M. S. Grinolds View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google
Scholar * B. Hausmann View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * M. D. Lukin View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed
Google Scholar * R. L. Walsworth View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * M. Loncar View author publications You can also search for this
author inPubMed Google Scholar * A. Yacoby View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CONTRIBUTIONS All authors contributed to all aspects of this
work. CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to A. Yacoby. ETHICS DECLARATIONS COMPETING INTERESTS The authors declare no competing financial interests. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION Supplementary information (PDF 672 kb) RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Maletinsky, P., Hong, S., Grinolds, M. _et al._ A
robust scanning diamond sensor for nanoscale imaging with single nitrogen-vacancy centres. _Nature Nanotech_ 7, 320–324 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2012.50 Download citation *
Received: 08 February 2012 * Accepted: 13 March 2012 * Published: 15 April 2012 * Issue Date: May 2012 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2012.50 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the
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