The detection of ensembles of spins under ambient conditions has revolutionized the biological, chemical, and physical sciences through magnetic resonance imaging and nuclear magnetic resonance. Pushing sensing capabilities to the individual-spin lev
el would enable unprecedented applications such as single molecule structural imaging; however, the weak magnetic fields from single spins are undetectable by conventional far-field resonance techniques. In recent years, there has been a considerable effort to develop nanoscale scanning magnetometers, which are able to measure fewer spins by bringing the sensor in close proximity to its target. The most sensitive of these magnetometers generally require low temperatures for operation, but measuring under ambient conditions (standard temperature and pressure) is critical for many imaging applications, particularly in biological systems. Here we demonstrate detection and nanoscale imaging of the magnetic field from a single electron spin under ambient conditions using a scanning nitrogen-vacancy (NV) magnetometer. Real-space, quantitative magnetic-field images are obtained by deterministically scanning our NV magnetometer 50 nanometers above a target electron spin, while measuring the local magnetic field using dynamically decoupled magnetometry protocols. This single-spin detection capability could enable single-spin magnetic resonance imaging of electron spins on the nano- and atomic scales and opens the door for unique applications such as mechanical quantum state transfer.
Quantum control of individual spins in condensed matter systems is an emerging field with wide-ranging applications in spintronics, quantum computation, and sensitive magnetometry. Recent experiments have demonstrated the ability to address and manip
ulate single electron spins through either optical or electrical techniques. However, it is a challenge to extend individual spin control to nanoscale multi-electron systems, as individual spins are often irresolvable with existing methods. Here we demonstrate that coherent individual spin control can be achieved with few-nm resolution for proximal electron spins by performing single-spin magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which is realized via a scanning magnetic field gradient that is both strong enough to achieve nanometric spatial resolution and sufficiently stable for coherent spin manipulations. We apply this scanning field-gradient MRI technique to electronic spins in nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond and achieve nanometric resolution in imaging, characterization, and manipulation of individual spins. For NV centers, our results in individual spin control demonstrate an improvement of nearly two orders of magnitude in spatial resolution compared to conventional optical diffraction-limited techniques. This scanning-field-gradient microscope enables a wide range of applications including materials characterization, spin entanglement, and nanoscale magnetometry.
(Abridged) Spitzer data at 24, 70, and 160 micron and ground-based H-alpha images are analyzed for a sample of 189 nearby star-forming and starburst galaxies to investigate whether reliable star formation rate (SFR) indicators can be defined using th
e monochromatic infrared dust emission centered at 70 and 160 micron. We compare recently published recipes for SFR measures using combinations of the 24 micron and observed H-alpha luminosities with those using 24 micron luminosity alone. From these comparisons, we derive a reference SFR indicator for use in our analysis. Linear correlations between SFR and the 70 and 160 micron luminosity are found for L(70)>=1.4x10^{42} erg/s and L(160)>=2x10^{42} erg/s, corresponding to SFR>=0.1-0.3 M_sun/yr. Below those two luminosity limits, the relation between SFR and 70 micron (160 micron) luminosity is non-linear and SFR calibrations become problematic. The dispersion of the data around the mean trend increases for increasing wavelength, becoming about 25% (factor ~2) larger at 70 (160) micron than at 24 micron. The increasing dispersion is likely an effect of the increasing contribution to the infrared emission of dust heated by stellar populations not associated with the current star formation. The non-linear relation between SFR and the 70 and 160 micron emission at faint galaxy luminosities suggests that the increasing transparency of the interstellar medium, decreasing effective dust temperature, and decreasing filling factor of star forming regions across the galaxy become important factors for decreasing luminosity. The SFR calibrations are provided for galaxies with oxygen abundance 12+Log(O/H)>8.1. At lower metallicity the infrared luminosity no longer reliably traces the SFR because galaxies are less dusty and more transparent.
