Atomic Scale Quantum Sensing and Information with Molecular Nanostructures on a Scanning Probe Tip

The ability to measure – at the atomic scale – quantum states and their interactions, as well as fundamental observables such as magnetic and electric fields, and to freely entangle and teleport quantum mechanical states at this length scale is the dream of nanoscale quantum technology.

Yet this vision comes with the daunting challenge of combining ultimate quantum sensitivity with atomic resolution in a mobile quantum sensing and information device – so far elusive for solid-state quantum systems. QuSINT will turn this dream into reality.

This breakthrough will rely on a single electron spin being turned into a quantum mechanical two-level system in a magnetic field.

Crucially, this quintessential quantum mechanical two-level system will be brought to the tip of a scanning probe microscope, to form a fully integrated and mobile spin-qubit sensor capable of sensing static and time-dependent magnetic fields on the atomic scale with single-spin sensitivity. Core of the spin-qubit sensor is a single, well-isolated electron in an open-shell molecular nanostructure.

It will be fabricated in situ from single atoms and molecules on surfaces by atomic manipulation, and coherently controlled by electron spin resonance. QuSINT will foster “quantum leaps” in solid-state quantum technology and its many applications.

For example, it will allow the ultra-precise characterization of quantum materials at the atomic scale, transform the diagnostics of nanoelectronic devices and multi-qubit systems, and enable the analog quantum simulation of so far intractable many-body systems.

In quantum computing and cryptography, it can also be used for quantum state tomography, and as a transport bus to entangle remote stationary qubits and teleport information, paving the way for atomic-scale solid-state quantum computing with spin qubits on surfaces.

Combining quantum sensitivity with atomic resolution, QuSINT will unleash the quantumness of condensed matter at the most fundamental level.