title: Nanoscale nuclear magnetic imaging with chemical contrast.
abstract: Scanning probe microscopy is one of the most versatile windows into the nanoworld, providing imaging access to a variety of electronic, dielectric, magnetic and topographic sample properties, depending on the probe used. Here, we demonstrate a scanning probe imaging method that extends the range of accessible quantities to label-free imaging of chemical species while operating on arbitrary samples--including insulating materials--under ambient conditions. Moreover, its sensitivity extends below the surface of a sample, allowing for imaging of subsurface features. We achieve these results by recording NMR signals from a sample surface with a recently introduced scanning probe, a single nitrogen-vacancy centre in diamond. We demonstrate NMR imaging with 10 nm resolution and achieve chemically specific contrast by separating fluorine from hydrogen-rich regions. Our result opens the door to scanning probe imaging of the chemical composition and molecular structure of arbitrary samples. A method with these abilities will find widespread application in materials science, even on biological specimens down to the level of single macromolecules.
authors.affiliation: 3. Physikalisches Institut, Universität Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: T
authors.identifier: 0000000275022162
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Häberle
authors.affiliation: 3. Physikalisches Institut, Universität Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: D
authors.identifier: 0000000173676413
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schmid-Lorch
authors.affiliation: 3. Physikalisches Institut, Universität Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: F
authors.identifier: 0000000162737399
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Reinhard
authors.affiliation: 1] 3. Physikalisches Institut, Universität Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany [2] Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Heisenbergstraße 1, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wrachtrup
mesh_terms: D020527:Microscopy, Scanning Probe / Q000379:methods*; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D019906:Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Biomolecular / Q000379:methods*