To form an image, a magnetic field-free region is created, such as exists halfway between two identical magnets with north poles facing each other. Optical excitation pumps the NVs into a bright fluorescence state, and microwaves transfer them to a dark state, but only for those NVs within the field-free region and resonant with the microwaves. By rastering the field-free region across the sample, the changes in fluorescence yield the nanodiamond concentration. Images of nanodiamond phantoms within chicken breast have been recorded with a prototype system. By modifying the nanodiamond particles and enhancing the imaging system, it should be possible to approach 100 μm resolution and to increase the sensitivity to a 10 nanomolar carbon concentration per root Hz in a mm3 voxel. |
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CITATIONS
Cited by 3 patents.
Imaging systems
Magnetism
Luminescence
Microwave radiation
Molecular imaging
Tissue optics
Point spread functions