A New Era in Imaging: India Builds Its Own Quantum Diamond Microscope
In a landmark achievement researchers at IIT Bombay have developed India s very first indigenous Quantum Diamond Microscope QDM a breakthrough device capable of mapping dynamic magnetic fields in three dimensions at the nanoscale This development part of India s National Quantum Mission was publicly announced during the Emerging Science Technology amp Innovation Conclave ESTIC nbsp How the Quantum Diamond Microscope WorksAt the heart of the QDM lies a special type of diamond defect called a nitrogen-vacancy NV center an atomic-scale flaw where a nitrogen atom sits next to an empty spot in the diamond lattice These NV centers maintain quantum coherence even at room temperature making them exquisitely sensitive to minute fluctuations in magnetic electric and thermal fields nbsp To read out the magnetic field the microscope uses optically detected magnetic resonance ODMR When illuminated the NV centers emit spin-dependent fluorescence which changes based on the local magnetic environment
