--- title: Delft Researchers Control The Magnetic Core of a Single Atom description: Researchers at Delft University of Technology controlled the nuclear spin of a single atom using radio waves, something physicists thought wasn't directly... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/delft-researchers-control-the-magnetic-core-of-a-single-atom-szdmmtydn twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Delft Researchers Control The Magnetic Core of a Single Atom | daily.dev og:description: Researchers at Delft University of Technology controlled the nuclear spin of a single atom using radio waves, something physicists thought wasn't directly... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/delft-researchers-control-the-magnetic-core-of-a-single-atom-szdmmtydn og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/szDMmtydn.png og:image:alt: Delft Researchers Control The Magnetic Core of a Single Atom og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Delft Researchers Control The Magnetic Core of a Single Atom **[The Quantum Insider](https://daily.dev/sources/thequantuminsider)** · 4 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Researchers at Delft University of Technology controlled the nuclear spin of a single atom using radio waves, something physicists thought wasn't directly possible. Lead researcher Sander Otte's team used a scanning tunneling microscope to send two signals at once, one targeting the electron and one targeting the nucleus. Main author Hester Vennema found the nuclear spin could flip even when largely disentangled from the electron spin, a result that surprised the team. The work, published in Nature Communications, refines a double magnetic resonance technique and could inform ways to store and read quantum information, though the mechanism behind the effect remains unexplained. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### Can the nuclear spin of a single atom be controlled directly with radio-frequency signals? Yes, researchers at Delft University of Technology showed that a single atom's nuclear spin can be flipped using radio-frequency signals, even when the nuclear and electron spins are largely disentangled. This contradicts prior assumptions that nuclear spin could not be manipulated directly and was thought insensitive to electrical signals from a scanning tunneling microscope. The mechanism behind the effect remains unresolved. _Anyone tracking quantum information storage breakthroughs can follow spin-control research like this on daily.dev._ ### What technique did researchers use to independently control electron and nuclear spins in a single atom? They refined an established double magnetic resonance technique, adapting it for use on a single atom studied with a scanning tunneling microscope. Two separate radio-frequency signals were sent simultaneously, one tuned to the electron spin and one tuned to the nuclear spin, since each spin rotation requires a precise frequency, like plucking a specific guitar string. Nuclear spin frequencies are a hundred to a thousand times lower than electron spin frequencies. _Researchers comparing spin-control methods can keep up with techniques like double magnetic resonance via daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [A solid-state quantum processor based on nuclear spins](https://daily.dev/posts/a-solid-state-quantum-processor-based-on-nuclear-spins-kyjkfoyt0) · Phys.org · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Optically detected nuclear magnetic resonance of coherent spins in a molecular complex](https://daily.dev/posts/optically-detected-nuclear-magnetic-resonance-of-coherent-spins-in-a-molecular-complex-n4vjsxybs) · Nature · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Argonne Researchers Couple Spin Waves With Superconducting Circuits](https://daily.dev/posts/argonne-researchers-couple-spin-waves-with-superconducting-circuits-nqteud2nm) · The Quantum Insider · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Magnetic 'sweet spots' enable optimal operation of hole spin qubits](https://daily.dev/posts/magnetic-sweet-spots-enable-optimal-operation-of-hole-spin-qubits-ovzogppu9) · Phys.org · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Tiny Carbon Rings Enable a New Form of Quantum Control](https://daily.dev/posts/tiny-carbon-rings-enable-a-new-form-of-quantum-control-de0cqymcv) · The Quantum Insider · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#quantum-computing](https://daily.dev/tags/quantum-computing) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/delft-researchers-control-the-magnetic-core-of-a-single-atom-szdmmtydn) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Delft Researchers Control The Magnetic Core of a Single Atom","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/delft-researchers-control-the-magnetic-core-of-a-single-atom-szdmmtydn","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/delft-researchers-control-the-magnetic-core-of-a-single-atom-szdmmtydn"},"datePublished":"2026-10-29T09:12:15.425Z","dateModified":"2026-10-29T09:12:39.612Z","description":"Researchers at Delft University of Technology controlled the nuclear spin of a single atom using radio waves, something physicists thought wasn't directly...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/af0d5da64b6e9c0ccb3877afa02be418?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/af0d5da64b6e9c0ccb3877afa02be418?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"The Quantum Insider","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Quantum Insider","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/7b14a6b34c1b464c9e8a88d9a0dac951","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/thequantuminsider"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/delft-researchers-control-the-magnetic-core-of-a-single-atom-szdmmtydn","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"quantum-computing","timeRequired":"PT4M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Quantum Insider","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/thequantuminsider"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Delft Researchers Control The Magnetic Core of a Single Atom"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/delft-researchers-control-the-magnetic-core-of-a-single-atom-szdmmtydn#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"Can the nuclear spin of a single atom be controlled directly with radio-frequency signals?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Yes, researchers at Delft University of Technology showed that a single atom's nuclear spin can be flipped using radio-frequency signals, even when the nuclear and electron spins are largely disentangled. This contradicts prior assumptions that nuclear spin could not be manipulated directly and was thought insensitive to electrical signals from a scanning tunneling microscope. The mechanism behind the effect remains unresolved. Anyone tracking quantum information storage breakthroughs can follow spin-control research like this on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What technique did researchers use to independently control electron and nuclear spins in a single atom?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"They refined an established double magnetic resonance technique, adapting it for use on a single atom studied with a scanning tunneling microscope. Two separate radio-frequency signals were sent simultaneously, one tuned to the electron spin and one tuned to the nuclear spin, since each spin rotation requires a precise frequency, like plucking a specific guitar string. Nuclear spin frequencies are a hundred to a thousand times lower than electron spin frequencies. Researchers comparing spin-control methods can keep up with techniques like double magnetic resonance via daily.dev."}}]} ```