Abstract We present a miniaturized diamond quantum sensor integrated with a real-time laser noise suppression module, ensuring reliable operation for high-precision magnetic field measurements in the long-run. A piezoelectric micro-electromechanical systems mirror based variable optical attenuator (VOA) is constructed with an attenuation range of −3 dB to −20 dB. The VOA is employed to dynamically adjusts the intensity of reference laser signal to actively track diamond fluorescence signal and the laser noise is suppressed, whereby a sensitivity of 211 pT·Hz −1/2 is achieved. For real-time fluorescence tracking, a closed-loop control system is implemented to maintain functional common-mode rejection (CMR). Compared with passive CMR configuration (open-loop), the dynamic magnetic field noise of the closed-loop diamond sensor is reduced by 1.6 times in both challenging scenarios, including laser power fluctuations and strong magnetic fields. Furthermore, an optimal sensitivity is effectively maintained in a 2 h measurement time. Compared with open-loop operation, the sensitivity fluctuation of the closed-loop system is reduced by a factor of 14.29. The fluorescence tracking scheme provides an effective approach to enhancing the operational stability for practical magnetic sensing applications.
Abstract We present a miniaturized diamond quantum sensor integrated with a real-time laser noise suppression module, ensuring reliable operation for high-precision magnetic field measurements in the long-run. A piezoelectric micro-electromechanical systems mirror based variable optical attenuator (VOA) is constructed with an attenuation range of −3 dB to −20 dB. The VOA is employed to dynamically adjusts the intensity of reference laser signal to actively track diamond fluorescence signal and the laser noise is suppressed, whereby a sensitivity of 211 pT·Hz −1/2 is achieved. For real-time fluorescence tracking, a closed-loop control system is implemented to maintain functional common-mode rejection (CMR). Compared with passive CMR configuration (open-loop), the dynamic magnetic field noise of the closed-loop diamond sensor is reduced by 1.6 times in both challenging scenarios, including laser power fluctuations and strong magnetic fields. Furthermore, an optimal sensitivity is effectively maintained in a 2 h measurement time. Compared with open-loop operation, the sensitivity fluctuation of the closed-loop system is reduced by a factor of 14.29. The fluorescence tracking scheme provides an effective approach to enhancing the operational stability for practical magnetic sensing applications.
Nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers in diamonds have emerged as one of the most promising candidates for magnetic field sensing. However, the laser intensity fluctuation is coupled to the diamond fluorescence; thus, the sensitivity is severely affected by the noise and stability of the laser. Integrating both the diamond quantum sensor and laser noise suppression device is a crucial step toward miniaturization and practical applications. Here, we present a piezoelectric-driven device to dynamically adjust the laser noise cancelation with dimensions of 5 × 5 × 1.5 mm 3 based on a grating interferometer. This device incorporates a grating structure to produce diffracted reference light with high-accuracy intensity modulation, actively tracking the fluorescence signal for differential common-mode rejection (CMR), effectively eliminating laser noise in the system, whereby the sensitivity of magnetic field detection is increased by a factor of 34, reaching 160 pT · Hz –1/2, and beneficial to the long-term stability. The compact design of this laser noise suppressor, in combination with a miniaturized diamond magnetometer, demonstrates its potential for high-precision magnetic field detection ability and strong portability.
The nitrogen–vacancy center in diamond enables highly sensitive magnetic-field measurements. In this work, we demonstrate an excellent sensitivity of 7.9 pT·Hz –1/2 in the near-DC range of 1 to 1000 Hz. This performance is achieved using a 35 mW laser power and 1 mW microwave power enabled by 561 nm laser excitation and the resonant-antenna design. By leveraging dual resonance with intrinsic π shift for real-time common-mode rejection, this technique effectively suppresses low-frequency noise and pushes the 1/ f corner frequency down to 1 Hz, with a measured sensitivity at 1 Hz of 10.6 pT·Hz –1/2 . The magnetometer also exhibits excellent capability in detecting magnetic anomalies, promoting the practical use of diamond quantum sensors in biomedical, geophysical, and other real-world applications.
We developed a highly sensitive and long-term stable diamond quantum magnetometer by integrating a dual-feedback system that compensates for common- and differential-mode frequency shifts in double-quantum (DQ) 4-Ramsey interferometry. Detecting extremely weak magnetic-field signals requires extensive signal accumulation to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio. However, deviations from the optimal operating frequencies caused by thermal drift or environmental magnetic noise severely hinder the long-term stability of such a sensing system. To overcome the limitation, we first derived analytical solutions for the signal response to common- and differential-mode detunings based on a detuning-inclusive Hamiltonian to theoretically clarify the robustness limit in DQ 4-Ramsey sensing. Guided by this theoretical model, we introduced synchronized frequency modulation and a dual-feedback scheme to independently track and compensate for these frequency shifts while maintaining an optimal magnetic-field response. The proposed method enabled stable continuous operation against temperature variations of 2.8 K. By maintaining a magnetic field sensitivity of 7.0 pT/Hz^1/2 in the frequency range of 5-100 Hz for a prolonged duration of 4 hours, we achieved an extremely low noise floor of 64 fT/Hz^1/2. During prolonged continuous sensing, the system exhibited the expected 1/T^1/2 scaling with integration time T, and prevented both the underestimation of amplitude and waveform distortion. These results establish a robust approach for long-term DQ 4-Ramsey diamond magnetometry and demonstrate its potential for detecting weak biomagnetic signals.
The nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond have exhibited excellent sensing capabilities. By applying the resonance frequency tracking (RFT) method in a closed-loop system, magnetic-field measurements with a wide dynamic range have been demonstrated. However, the previous strategies employ phase-sensitive control signals, which degrade control robustness and reduce tracking rates, thereby impeding real-time measurements. Here, an amplitude–phase joint discrimination strategy is proposed to improve robustness, overcoming the limitations of existing strategies that are sensitive to phase delays in fluorescence signal transmission. Moreover, to improve the tracking speed, a customized device, integrating a fast-response lock-in amplifier (LIA) and a frequency-agile microwave (MW) source, is reported. The LIA achieves a response time as short as 20 μs, while the MW source reaches a frequency switching time of 1 μs. The proposed strategy and customized device are implemented and evaluated on an all-fiber quantum current sensing system. Test results show that the system achieves a maximum sampling rate of 20 kHz, with excellent linearity (a linear deviation of 0.37% over the range of 0-120 A) and high accuracy (a measurement error of 0.73% at 80 A), making it promising for a wide range of high-speed quantum measurement scenarios.
Transitioning quantum magnetometry from laboratory environments to real-world applications has been limited by a persistent trade-off between sensor miniaturization and magnetic sensitivity. While bulky systems can achieve high sensitivity, endoscopic probes commonly suffer from inefficient fluorescence collection and reduced performance. Here we resolve this trade-off and present a miniaturized diamond quantum magnetometer with a 6 mm diameter endoscopic sensor head, achieving a magnetic-field sensitivity of 91 pT/sqrt(Hz) with a 2 kHz measurement bandwidth in a magnetically unshielded environment. The fluorescence collection bottleneck is overcome by separating excitation and collection into different cores of a fused multi-core fiber bundle, coupled to the diamond through a custom high-numerical-aperture micro-objective. A compact FPGA-based backend performs microwave control, lock-in detection and real-time resonance tracking, enabling robust operation during magnetic-field imaging. To demonstrate the practical utility of the miniaturized sensor, we image the magnetic field of a commercial lithium-ion pouch cell during charge and discharge and reconstruct depth-integrated current-density maps of the current flow. These results show that endoscopic diamond magnetometers can combine high sensitivity with a probe geometry suitable for confined, unshielded measurements, opening new avenues in battery technology and beyond.
The nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond is a prime candidate for quantum sensing technologies. Here, we present a fully integrated and mechanically robust fiber-based endoscopic sensor with a tip diameter of 1.25 mm . On its tip, a direct laser-writing process is used to secure a diamond containing NV centers above the fiber’s core inside a polymer structure. Additionally, a metallic direct laser-written antenna structure next to the fiber facet allows efficient microwave manipulation of NV-center spins. The sensor achieves a shot-noise-limited magnetic-field sensitivity of 5.9 nT / Hz using a 15 − μ m -sized microdiamond at a microwave power of 50 mW and an optical power of 2.15 mW . Using lock-in techniques, we measure a sensitivity of 51.8 nT / Hz . Furthermore, we introduce a dual-fiber concept that enables, in combination with a direct laser-written structure, independent guiding of excitation and fluorescence light and thus reduces background autofluorescence. Moreover, controlled guiding of excitation light to the diamond while avoiding sample illumination may enable operation in light-sensitive environments such as biological tissue. While the demonstrated sensitivity is achieved using a single-fiber configuration, the dual-fiber approach provides a path toward integrating smaller diamonds, where autofluorescence would otherwise limit performance. We demonstrate the capability of vector magnetic-field measurements in the type of magnetic field used in state-of-the-art ultracold quantum gas experiments, opening a potential arena in which high resolution and high sensitivity are required.