A highly sensitive diamond quantum magnetometer utilizing nitrogen-vacancy centers can achieve millimeter-scale resolution magnetoencephalography (MEG), as reported by scientists from Tokyo Tech. The novel magnetometer, based on continuous-wave optically detected magnetic resonance, marks a significant step towards realizing ambient condition MEG and other practical applications.

Advancing scalable solid-state quantum computing from materials to quantum processors and simulators—this is the ambitious project goal of the joint European project SPINUS. During their annual meeting, which took place in February in Trento, Italy, the project partners gathered to assess their latest scientific achievements and to align on strategic objectives for the upcoming project phases. During two days of intensive discussions, including a quantum technologies networking session with external participants, the consortium showcased decisive milestones and lived up to SPINUS’ role in advancing European quantum research.

Fujitsu Limited today announced the world’s first demonstration of a complete universal quantum gate set for diamond spin qubits with an error probability below 0.1%, achieving a fidelity among the highest reported over all quantum hardware technologies. This collaboration with QuTech, a leading quantum technology research institute of Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), marks an important step for the diamond spin method towards carrying out quantum error correction and realizing practical quantum computing. The findings were published in Physical Review Applied on March 21, 2025.

In a recent study, a team of researchers led by Professor Mutsuko Hatano and Professor Takayuki Iwasaki from the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, School of Engineering, Institute of Science Tokyo (Science Tokyo), Japan, utilized heteroepitaxial growth technology to address size limitations in diamond substrates.

In a recent breakthrough, scientists from Okayama University in Japan developed nanodiamond sensors bright enough for bioimaging, with spin properties comparable to those of bulk diamonds. The study, published in ACS Nano, on 16 December 2024, was led by Research Professor Masazumi Fujiwara from Okayama University, in collaboration with Sumitomo Electric Company and the National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology.

For controlling prosthetics, the body’s signals must be detected to move the artificial limb. At the moment, implanting electrodes is the most common technique but this is invasive and electrodes can deteriorate or move position. A completely different approach is now developed by the multidisciplinary consortium QHMI in Stuttgart, Germany, using quantum sensors to detect the incredibly small and fast nerve signals. The ultrasensitive quantum magnetometers will be carried outside the body measuring the neural signals through the skin. At this stage, the scientists are using Spectrum Instrumentation’s ultrafast digitizers (M5i.3357) and Arbitrary Waveform Generators (M4x.6631) to characterize the signals and to finally design the required Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) and Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs).

One new study, conducted by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and Princeton University, investigated ways to reliably grow diamond at lower temperatures than those currently used. Diamond has properties that make it attractive to the semiconductor industry. With its particular crystal lattice structure, diamond can withstand high electrical voltages. It’s also very good at dissipating heat.

A new study has uncovered the universal dynamics far from equilibrium in randomly interacting spin models, thereby complementing the well-established universality in low-energy equilibrium physics. The study, recently published in Nature Physics, was the result of a collaborative effort involving the research group led by Prof. Du Jiangfeng and Prof. Peng Xinhua at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), along with the theoretical groups of Prof. Zhai Hui from Tsinghua University and Dr. Zhang Pengfei from Fudan University.

Researchers in the lab of UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering Prof. David Awschalom, including postdoctoral scholar Jonathan Marcks and graduate student Benjamin S. Soloway, have devised a new way to harness the defect spin to measure the behavior of other single electron defects in diamonds.

Measuring tiny magnetic fields, such as those generated by brain waves, enables many new novel opportunities for medical diagnostics and treatment. The research team led by Dr. Jan Jeske at Fraunhofer IAF is working on a globally innovative approach to precise magnetic field measurements: Laser Threshold Magnetometry. The researchers have now combined an NV diamond and a laser diode in a resonator, successfully demonstrating the sensor system with two active media for the first time. This outstanding paper has been published in Science Advances and represents a significant progress in the BMBF-funded research project NeuroQ.