Search for: All records

Hemoglobin (Hb) is a multifaceted protein, classified as a metalloprotein, chromoprotein, and globulin. It incorporates iron, which plays a crucial role in transporting oxygen within red blood cells. Hb functions by carrying oxygen from the respiratory organs to diverse tissues in the body, where it releases oxygen to fuel aerobic respiration, thus supporting the organism's metabolic processes. Hb can exist in several forms, primarily distinguished by the oxidation state of the iron in the heme group, including methemoglobin (MetHb). Measuring the concentration of MetHb is crucial because it cannot transport oxygen; hence, higher concentrations of MetHb in the blood causes methemoglobinemia. Here, we use optically detected magnetic relaxometry of paramagnetic iron spins in MetHb drop-cast onto a nanostructured diamond doped with shallow high-density nitrogen-vacancy (NV) spin qubits. We vary the concentration of MetHb in the range of 6 × 106–1.8 × 107 adsorbed Fe+3 spins per micrometer squared and observe an increase in the NV relaxation rate Γ1 (=1/T1, where T1 is the NV spin lattice relaxation time) up to 2 × 103 s−1. NV magnetic relaxometry of MetHb in phosphate-buffered saline solution shows a similar effect with an increase in Γ1 to 6.7 × 103 s−1 upon increasing the MetHb concentration to 100 μM. The increase in NV Γ1 is explained by the increased spin noise coming from the Fe+3 spins present in MetHb proteins. This study presents an additional usage of NV quantum sensors to detect paramagnetic centers of biomolecules at volumes below 100 picoliter. 

Precision optical measurements of the electron-spin precession of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond form the basis of numerous applications. The most sensitivity-demanding applications, such as femtotesla magnetometry, require the ability to measure changes in GHz spin transition frequencies at the sub-millihertz level, corresponding to a fractional resolution of better than ${10}^{-12}$. Here we study the impact of microwave (MW) phase noise on the response of an NV sensor. Fluctuations of the phase of the MW waveform cause undesired rotations of the NV spin state. These fluctuations are imprinted in the optical readout signal and, left unmitigated, are indistinguishable from magnetic-field noise. We show that the phase noise of several common commercial MW generators results in an effective $\mathrm{pT}{\mathrm{s}}^{1/2}$-range noise floor that varies with the MW carrier frequency and the detection frequency of the pulse sequence. The data are described by a frequency-domain model incorporating the MW phase-noise spectrum and the filter-function response of the sensing protocol. For controlled injection of white and random-walk phase noise, the observed NV magnetic noise floor is described by simple analytic expressions that accurately capture the scaling with pulse sequence length and the number of $\pi$pulses. We outline several strategies to suppress the impact of MW phase noise and implement a version, based on gradiometry, that realizes a $>10$-fold suppression. Our study highlights an important challenge in the pursuit of sensitive diamond quantum sensors and is applicable to other qubit systems with a large transition frequency. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

Radio frequency (RF) magnetometers based on nitrogen vacancy centers in diamond are predicted to offer femtotesla sensitivity, but previous experiments were limited to the picotesla level. We demonstrate a femtotesla RF magnetometer using a diamond membrane inserted between ferrite flux concentrators. The device provides ~300-fold amplitude enhancement for RF magnetic fields from 70 kHz to 3.6 MHz, and the sensitivity reaches ~70 fT√s at 0.35 MHz. The sensor detected the 3.6-MHz nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) of room-temperature sodium nitrite powder. The sensor’s recovery time after an RF pulse is ~35 μs, limited by the excitation coil’s ring-down time. The sodium-nitrite NQR frequency shifts with temperature as −1.00±0.02 kHz/K, the magnetization dephasing time isT₂*=887±51 μs, and multipulse sequences extend the signal lifetime to 332±23 ms, all consistent with coil-based studies. Our results expand the sensitivity frontier of diamond magnetometers to the femtotesla range, with potential applications in security, medical imaging, and materials science. 

We report direct imaging of boundary magnetization associated with antiferromagnetic domains in magnetoelectric epitaxial Cr 2 O 3 thin films using diamond nitrogen vacancy microscopy. We found a correlation between magnetic domain size and structural grain size which we associate with the domain formation process. We performed field cooling, i.e. , cooling from above to below the Néel temperature in the presence of a magnetic field, which resulted in the selection of one of the two otherwise degenerate 180° domains. Lifting of such a degeneracy is achievable with a magnetic field alone due to the Zeeman energy of a weak parasitic magnetic moment in Cr 2 O 3 films that originates from defects and the imbalance of the boundary magnetization of opposing interfaces. This boundary magnetization couples to the antiferromagnetic order parameter enabling selection of its orientation. Nanostructuring the Cr 2 O 3 film with mesa structures revealed reversible edge magnetic states with the direction of magnetic field during field cooling. 

Abstract Two‐dimentional magnets are of significant interest both as a platform for exploring novel fundamental physics and for their potential in spintronic and optoelectronic devices. Recent bulk magnetometry studies have indicated a weak ferromagnetic response in tungsten disulfide (WS₂), and theoretical predictions suggest edge‐localized magnetization in flakes with partial hydrogenation. Here, room‐temperature wide‐field quantum diamond magnetometry to image pristine and Fe‐implanted WS₂flakes of varying thicknesses (45–160 nm), exfoliated from bulk crystals and transferred to NV‐doped diamond substrates, is used. Direct evidence of edge‐localized stray magnetic fields, which scale linearly with applied external magnetic field (4.4–220 mT), reaching up to ±4.7 µT, is observed. The edge signal shows a limited dependence on the flake thickness, consistent with dipolar field decay and sensing geometry. Magnetic simulations using five alternative models favor the presence of edge magnetization aligned along an axis slightly tilted from the normal to the WS₂flake's plane, consistent with spin canting in antiferromagnetically coupled edge states. Thses findings establish WS₂as a promising platform for edge‐controlled 2D spintronics. 

Abstract Chromia (Cr₂O₃) is a magnetoelectric oxide that permits voltage‐control of the antiferromagnetic (AFM) order, but it suffers technological constraints due to its low Néel Temperature (T_N≈307 K) and the need of a symmetry‐breaking applied magnetic field to achieve reversal of the Néel vector. Recently, boron (B) doping of Cr₂O₃films led to an increaseT_N>400 K and allowed the realization of voltage magnetic‐field free controlled Néel vector rotation. Here, the impact of B doping is directly imaged on the formation of AFM domains in Cr₂O₃thin films and elucidates the mechanism of voltage‐controlled manipulation of the spin structure using nitrogen‐vacancy (NV) scanning probe magnetometry. A stark reduction and thickness dependence of domain size in B‐doped Cr₂O₃(B:Cr₂O₃) films is found, explained by the increased germ density, likely associated with the B doping. By reconstructing the surface magnetization from the NV stray‐field maps, a qualitative distinction between the undoped and B‐doped Cr₂O₃films is found, manifested by the histogram distribution of the AFM ordering, that is, 180°domains for pure films, and 90°domains for B:Cr₂O₃films. Additionally, NV imaging of voltage‐controlled B‐doped Cr₂O₃devices corroborates the 90°rotation of the AFM domains observed in magnetotransport measurement.