Single Molecule Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Microscopy for Complex Spin Systems

Nanotechnology is emerging as a key area to address global challenges in health, energy, environment and information technologies.

However, we are still investigating most nanomaterials with bulk techniques, averaging over large samples, instead of looking at one single nanostructure with true nanoscale sensors.

Particularly, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) as our workhorse for bio/chemical synthesis and medical imaging is inherently limited to bulk samples.

The most fundamental challenge, to turn NMR from an ensemble-measurement technique (Commercial NMRs typically have a sensitivity of billions of molecules) into a nanocale technique remains unsolved.

In this project we will overcome this challenge by reaching single molecule sensitivity, thus converting NMR into an imaging technique thanks to the exploitation of the unparalleled atomic resolution of the scanning probe microscopy (SPM) technology.

This breakthrough will be based on resonant, high frequency, electro-magnetic excitation and readout including important advances in GHz technology.

We will use the capabilities of the novel technology to demonstrate detection of single spin NMR and to test the limits of our understanding of nuclear-electron interactions, probing the physics of molecular nanoobjects, 1D carbon nanoribbons with delocalized coherent states, and 2D atomically-thin magnetic materials.

This novel technology will not only open up new fundamental scientific insights but should also have a strong impact in the markets of NMR and SPM.

In this context, the project will be a keystone, demonstrating the novel platform conceived as a versatile upgrade for commercially-available SPMs, that can routinely operate in various environments (vacuum, ambient, liquid) with a variety of molecules and materials.