Led by Dr Raffi Budakian, a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, the team demonstrated a mechanically detected molecular spin sensor capable of measuring ultra-weak local magnetic interactions. Overcoming the Limits of Diamond Quantum SensorsExisting nanoscale quantum sensors often rely on synthetic diamonds engineered with atomic defects (such as nitrogen-vacancy centres) and read out using optical methods. The molecular advantage: The Waterloo team used trityl-OX063, a class of synthetic organic molecules, as the quantum sensor. Extending coherence time: A major hurdle in molecular quantum sensing is maintaining quantum coherence before environmental noise disrupts the measurement. The Waterloo team’s molecular quantum sensor can currently detect the magnetic state of about 10 nuclear spins.