“Quantum technology” normally conjures thoughts of computation and communication, but also has exciting potential applications in new ways of measuring and imaging at the nanometer scale.  The NV defect centre in diamond is an especially promising single spin system for quantum measurements, such as magnetic sensing using individual fluorescent nanodiamond NV centres inside living human HeLa cells, wide-field imaging of material magnetization using ensembles of NV centres, and most recently measuring pseudo-magnetic fields with single NV centres rotating at up to 500,000 rpm.

But even classical imaging is a vexing problem at the atomic scale, needed for example to determine the structure of bio-molecules.  We have developed a new source of high-coherence electron bunches based on photoionisation of laser-cooled atoms.   With laser control of the cold atom cloud, we can shape the electron bunches, and because the electrons are so cold, they retain their shape during propagation.  While labeled by colleagues as “the world’s most expensive TV”, it offers the control needed for diffractive imaging at nanometre and picosecond resolution.  Using ghost imaging with electron-ion pairs, we are now progressing towards the ability to implant single ions at atomic scale for creation of new quantum devices.

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