Single-molecule Scale Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy using a Robust Near-Infrared Spin Sensor
Summarize this article with:
Quantum Physics arXiv:2512.10278 (quant-ph) [Submitted on 11 Dec 2025] Title:Single-molecule Scale Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy using a Robust Near-Infrared Spin Sensor Authors:Yu Chen, Qi Zhang, Yuanhong Teng, Chihang Luo, Zhijie Li, Jinpeng Liu, Ya Wang, Fazhan Shi, Jiangfeng Du View a PDF of the paper titled Single-molecule Scale Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy using a Robust Near-Infrared Spin Sensor, by Yu Chen and 8 other authors View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract:Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) at the single-molecule level with atomic resolution holds transformative potential for structural biology and surface chemistry. Near-surface solid-state spin sensors with optical readout ability offer a promising pathway toward this goal. However, their extreme proximity to target molecules demands exceptional robustness against surface-induced perturbations. Furthermore, life science applications require these sensors to operate in biocompatible spectral ranges that minimize photodamage. In this work, we demonstrate that the PL6 quantum defect in 4H silicon carbide (4H-SiC) can serve as a robust near-infrared spin sensor. This sensor operates at tissue-transparent wavelengths and exhibits exceptional near-surface stability even at depth of 2 nm. Using shallow PL6 centers, we achieve nanoscale NMR detection of proton ($\mathrm{^{1}H}$) spins in immersion oil and fluorine ($\mathrm{^{19}F}$) spins in Fomblin, attaining a detection volume of $\mathrm{(3~nm)^3}$ and a sensitivity reaching the requirement for single-proton spin detection. This work establishes 4H-SiC quantum sensors as a compelling platform for nanoscale magnetic resonance, with promising applications in probing low-dimensional water phases, protein folding dynamics, and molecular interactions. Comments: Subjects: Quantum Physics (quant-ph); Biological Physics (physics.bio-ph) Cite as: arXiv:2512.10278 [quant-ph] (or arXiv:2512.10278v1 [quant-ph] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2512.10278 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite Submission history From: Fazhan Shi [view email] [v1] Thu, 11 Dec 2025 04:37:42 UTC (1,743 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View a PDF of the paper titled Single-molecule Scale Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy using a Robust Near-Infrared Spin Sensor, by Yu Chen and 8 other authorsView PDFHTML (experimental)TeX Source view license Current browse context: quant-ph new | recent | 2025-12 Change to browse by: physics physics.bio-ph References & Citations INSPIRE HEP NASA ADSGoogle Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Loading... BibTeX formatted citation × loading... Data provided by: Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer (What is the Explorer?) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers (What is Connected Papers?) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps (What is Litmaps?) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations (What are Smart Citations?) Code, Data, Media Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article alphaXiv Toggle alphaXiv (What is alphaXiv?) Links to Code Toggle CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers (What is CatalyzeX?) DagsHub Toggle DagsHub (What is DagsHub?) GotitPub Toggle Gotit.pub (What is GotitPub?) Huggingface Toggle Hugging Face (What is Huggingface?) Links to Code Toggle Papers with Code (What is Papers with Code?) ScienceCast Toggle ScienceCast (What is ScienceCast?) Demos Demos Replicate Toggle Replicate (What is Replicate?) Spaces Toggle Hugging Face Spaces (What is Spaces?) Spaces Toggle TXYZ.AI (What is TXYZ.AI?) Related Papers Recommenders and Search Tools Link to Influence Flower Influence Flower (What are Influence Flowers?) Core recommender toggle CORE Recommender (What is CORE?) Author Venue Institution Topic About arXivLabs arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them. Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs. Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax (What is MathJax?)