Microkelvin resolution thermometry at the nanometre scale
Abstract
Accurate temperature readings of transient events at the nanometer scale are challenging due to the low sensitivity of available sensors. Nanodiamonds containing nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers have been used for nanoscale thermometry in complex environments, including inside living cells. However, their performance has been limited by short coherence times and low photon counts. In this work, we use isotopically-purified dual-NV nanodiamonds and a bespoke quantum sensing chip to showcase an order of magnitude improvement in temperature measurement sensitivity compared with previous reports. We demonstrate robust temperature measurements with an error of 682 μK, experimental sensitivities below 50 mK/surd Hz and a shot-noise limited sensitivity of 9.6 mK/surd Hz. To confirm the utility of these high-performance nanothermometers, we quantify the temperature change induced by the thermometry measurement itself, specifically the optical excitation laser used to probe the NV spin state. In addition, we observe directly at the nanometre scale the transient heating caused by the exothermic mixing of dimethyl sulfoxide in water. Sub-millikelvin resolution and millikelvin sensitivity thermometry unlock the possibility of monitoring minute thermal fluctuations in living systems and assessing catalyst performance at the nanometre scale.
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BibTeX
@misc{hart2026microkelvin,
title = {{Microkelvin resolution thermometry at the nanometre scale}},
author = {Jack W. Hart and Soham Pal and Julien R. E. Roth and Katie Ninham and Abbie H. Aleksandrova and Xander Peetroons and Soumen Mandal and Oliver A. Williams and Gavin W. Morley and Mete Atature and Helena S. Knowles},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.04907},
eprint = {2609.04907},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.04907},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Microkelvin resolution thermometry at the nanometre scale
AU - Jack W. Hart
AU - Soham Pal
AU - Julien R. E. Roth
AU - Katie Ninham
AU - Abbie H. Aleksandrova
AU - Xander Peetroons
AU - Soumen Mandal
AU - Oliver A. Williams
AU - Gavin W. Morley
AU - Mete Atature
AU - Helena S. Knowles
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/04
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.04907
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.04907
AB - Accurate temperature readings of transient events at the nanometer scale are challenging due to the low sensitivity of available sensors. Nanodiamonds containing nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers have been used for nanoscale thermometry in complex environments, including inside living cells. However, their performance has been limited by short coherence times and low photon counts. In this work, we use isotopically-purified dual-NV nanodiamonds and a bespoke quantum sensing chip to showcase an order of magnitude improvement in temperature measurement sensitivity compared with previous reports. We demonstrate robust temperature measurements with an error of 682 μK, experimental sensitivities below 50 mK/surd Hz and a shot-noise limited sensitivity of 9.6 mK/surd Hz. To confirm the utility of these high-performance nanothermometers, we quantify the temperature change induced by the thermometry measurement itself, specifically the optical excitation laser used to probe the NV spin state. In addition, we observe directly at the nanometre scale the transient heating caused by the exothermic mixing of dimethyl sulfoxide in water. Sub-millikelvin resolution and millikelvin sensitivity thermometry unlock the possibility of monitoring minute thermal fluctuations in living systems and assessing catalyst performance at the nanometre scale.
ER -