An integrated route to quantum detection: The quantum properties of the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center defect in diamond are being pursued as building blocks for quantum-enhanced technologies. Addressing and manipulating the defects, however, typically requires bulk optics, which could limit scalability. Siyushev et al. developed an on-chip technique in which the NV center is detected optoelectronically. Such a detection and manipulation method offers a route to develop an integrated platform for scalable quantum-based sensing technologies. Science , this issue p. 728

Magnetocardiography is a contactless imaging modality for electric current propagation in the cardiovascular system. Although conventional sensors provide sufficiently high sensitivity, their spatial resolution is limited to a centimetre-scale, which is inadequate for revealing the intra-cardiac electrodynamics such as rotational waves associated with ventricular arrhythmias. Here, we demonstrate invasive magnetocardiography of living rats at a millimetre-scale using a quantum sensor based on nitrogen-vacancy centres in diamond. The acquired magnetic images indicate that the cardiac signal source is well explained by vertically distributed current dipoles, pointing from the right atrium base via the Purkinje fibre bundle to the left ventricular apex. We also find that this observation is consistent with and complementary to an alternative picture of electric current density distribution calculated with a stream function method. Our technique will enable the study of the origin and progression of various cardiac arrhythmias, including flutter, fibrillation, and tachycardia.

We present a sensitive diamond quantum sensor with a magnetic field sensitivity of $9.4\pm 0.1\mathrm{pT}/\sqrt{\mathrm{Hz}}$ in a near-dc frequency range of 5 to 100 Hz. This sensor is based on the continuous-wave optically detected magnetic resonance of an ensemble of nitrogen-vacancy centers along the [111] direction in a diamond (111) single crystal. The long $T_2^{\ast }\sim 2\text{μ}\mathrm{s}$ in our diamond and the reduced intensity noise in laser-induced fluorescence result in remarkable sensitivity among diamond quantum sensors. Based on an Allan-deviation analysis, we demonstrate that a subpicotesla field of 0.3 pT is detectable by interrogating the magnetic field for a few thousand seconds. The sensor head is compatible with various practical applications and allows a minimum measurement distance of about 1 mm from the sensing region. The proposed sensor facilitates the practical application of diamond quantum sensors. The sensitivity presented is realized without a magnetic flux concentrator, so that a sensitivity of tens of $\mathrm{fT}/\sqrt{\mathrm{Hz}}$ can be achievable by using a flux concentrator.