High-resolution nanoscale NMR for arbitrary magnetic fields

Abstract

Nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers are a major platform for the detection of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) signals at the nanoscale. To overcome the intrinsic electron spin lifetime limit in spectral resolution, a heterodyne detection approach is widely used. However, application of this technique at high magnetic fields is yet an unsolved problem. Here, we introduce a heterodyne detection method utilizing a series of phase coherent electron nuclear double resonance sensing blocks, thus eliminating the numerous Rabi microwave pulses required in the detection. Our detection protocol can be extended to high magnetic fields, allowing chemical shift resolution in NMR experiments. We demonstrate this principle on a weakly coupled 13 C nuclear spin in the bath surrounding single NV centers, and compare the results to existing heterodyne protocols. Additionally, we identify the combination of NV-spin-initialization infidelity and strong sensor-target-coupling as linewidth-limiting decoherence source, paving the way towards high-field heterodyne NMR protocols with chemical resolution.