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Real-Time Observation of Magnet Switching in a Single Atom [techexplorist.com]:

Magnetism in motion. Published: Follow us on

Nuclear spins stay magnetically stable because they’re great at ignoring their surroundings. But to read or change their state, they need just a little interaction with the outside world. That’s why knowing and controlling their atomic neighborhood is crucial for quantum tech.

Until now, we could read single nuclear spins, but their environments were a mystery. Enter Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) + electron spin resonance (ESR): a powerful duo that lets scientists zoom in and listen to nuclear spins at the atomic level, thanks to hyperfine interactions.

In a breakthrough from Delft University, scientists used an STM to spy on a single titanium atom’s nuclear spin, like catching its magnetic heartbeat in real time. By tapping into the atom’s electrons, they watched the spin flip back and forth, live.

The twist? That tiny spin stayed stable for several seconds, an eternity in quantum terms. This opens the door to better control over atomic-scale bits, nudging us closer to ultra-precise quantum technologies.

A new way to control atomic nuclei as “qubits” [techexplorist.com]

A scanning tunneling microscope (STM) is like a super-sharp needle that can “feel” individual atoms on a surface and create images with incredible detail. But what it actually senses are the electrons swirling around the atom’s nucleus [techexplorist.com].

Both electrons and the nucleus act like tiny magnets, each with a property called spin. Scientists figured out how to detect the spin of a single electron using an STM about ten years ago.

Now, a team at TU Delft, led by Professor Sander Otte, asked a bold question: Can we go deeper and read the spin of the nucleus itself, in real time?

Otte explains, “The general idea had been demonstrated a few years ago, making use of the so-called hyperfine interaction between electron and nuclear spins. However, these early measurements were too slow to capture the motion of the nuclear spin over time.”

Evert Stolte, first author of the study, said, “We were able to show that this switching corresponds to the nuclear spin [techexplorist.com] flipping from one quantum state to another, and back again.”

They found that the nuclear spin in the atom stays stable for about five seconds before flipping, much longer than most quantum systems. In comparison, the electron spin in the same atom lasts only about 100 nanoseconds, which is millions of times shorter.

Because the researchers could measure the nuclear spin faster than it changed, and without disturbing it, they achieved what’s called single-shot readout. This means they could catch the spin’s state in one go, like snapping a photo before it moves.

This breakthrough makes it possible to control nuclear spins more precisely, opening up new experiments. In the long run, it could help build powerful tools for quantum simulation and atomic-scale sensing.

Journal Reference:

1. Stolte, E.W., Lee, J., Vennema, H.G. et al. Single-shot readout of the nuclear spin of an on-surface atom. Nat Commun 16, 7785 (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-63232-5 [doi.org]

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Journal Reference:
Stolte, Evert W., Lee, Jinwon, Vennema, Hester G., et al. Single-shot readout of the nuclear spin of an on-surface atom [open], Nature Communications (DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-63232-5 [doi.org])

See also:

• Single-shot readout of the nuclear spin of an on-surface atom [nature.com]

Original Submission