Quantum measurement and orientation tracking of fluorescent nanodiamonds inside living cells

Fluorescent particles are routinely used to probe biological processes1. The quantum properties of single spins within fluorescent particles have been explored in the field of nanoscale magnetometry2,3,4,5,6,7,8, but not yet in biological environments. Here, we demonstrate optically detected magnetic resonance of individual fluorescent nanodiamond nitrogen-vacancy centres inside living human HeLa cells, and measure their location, orientation, spin levels and spin coherence times with nanoscale precision. Quantum coherence was measured through Rabi and spin-echo sequences over long (>10 h) periods, and orientation was tracked with effective 1° angular precision over acquisition times of 89 ms. The quantum spin levels served as fingerprints, allowing individual centres with identical fluorescence to be identified and tracked simultaneously. Furthermore, monitoring decoherence rates in response to changes in the local environment may provide new information about intracellular processes. The experiments reported here demonstrate the viability of controlled single spin probes for nanomagnetometry in biological systems, opening up a host of new possibilities for quantum-based imaging in the life sciences. The orientation, spin coherence times and spin energy levels of individual nanodiamond nitrogen-vacancy centres have been measured inside living human cells with nanoscale precision.