Detection of Spin Magnetization Variation in a Two-level Maser Oscillator

Ian M. Firth

I. R. Senitzky

Wern Ng, Yongqiang Wen, Neil McN. Alford +1 more

Masers could transform medical sensing and boost qubit readout detection due to their superb low-noise amplification. The negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy diamond maser is the only continuous-wave solid-state maser operable at room temperature; however, it requires cumbersome magnets, which prevent its widespread use. We present a significant size reduction of the diamond maser oscillator using a much lighter electromagnet with a small footprint, reducing the weight from 2000 kg to a more portable 30 kg. We achieve a maximum oscillator output power near − 80 dBm, ten times higher than the first implementation, and discover techniques to reduce the magnetic field strength required for masing by 30 mT through precise manipulation of spin orientation. With the diamond maser now shrunk to a size that can fit on a benchtop, we move continuous-wave room-temperature masers away from the confines of research laboratories and closer to transforming readouts in quantum computing, frequency standards, and quantum-limited medical sensing.

Ya I Khanin

Mingjun Feng, Lan Wu, Guobin Liu

Spin masers with optical detection and artificial feedback are widely used in fundamental and practical applications. However, a full picture of the maser dynamics is still absent. By solving the feedback-driven Bloch equations, we simulated the dynamics of an ideal spin maser in a broad parameter space. Rich nonlinear dynamics including high-order-harmonic generation, nonperiodic spin oscillations, and frequency comb were revealed when the artificial feedback interaction exceeds the normal spin-field interaction. We also propose a pulse feedback spin maser protocol, which constructs an ultralow field magnetic frequency comb and could be useful in precision atomic magnetometers in searching for spin-dependent exotic interactions.

Albert M. Clogston