TU Delft Achieves Direct Single-Atom Nuclear Magnetic Resonance via Scanning Tunneling Microscope Probe
quantumcomputingreport.com Oct 31, 2026

TU Delft Achieves Direct Single-Atom Nuclear Magnetic Resonance via Scanning Tunneling Microscope Probe

AI-summarised brief · reviewed before publication

Physicists at Delft University of Technology’s Kavli Institute of Nanoscience demonstrated direct nuclear magnetic resonance control of a single surface‑adsorbed atom using a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) at 0.4 K and 1.4 T. The team introduced an Electron‑Nuclear Double Resonance (ENDOR) scheme that drives the 47Ti nucleus in the 50–85 MHz range while reading out the electronic spin at GHz frequencies. This achievement shows that isolated nuclear spins can be coherently addressed without hyperfine hybridization, offering a pathway to atomic‑scale quantum memory and high‑dimensional qudits.

💡 Why It Matters

  • · The work proves that nuclear spins can be manipulated directly at high magnetic fields, preserving their long coherence times.
  • · This capability could enable scalable, noise‑immune quantum registers built on engineered surface lattices.