National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC

Sandia Corporation

Quspin, Inc.

Yuan-Yu Jau

Grant Biedermann

Peter Schwindt

Christopher Todd DeRose

Michael Gehl

Jongmin Lee

David R Wheeler

Vishal Shah

Cort Nolan Johnson

Hayden James Evans McGuinness

Akash Rakholia

Kaleb Lee Campbell

The present invention is directed to devices and systems for rapidly producing high resolution images of magnetic fields in a sample. The devices and systems employ diamond chips with color centers that fluoresce in the presence of magnetic fields. The high resolution is due to the use of one of three excitation methods. The first method employs modulation of an acoustic surface wave, which increases/decreases the sensitivity of the color centers to magnetic fields. The second and third methods employ arrays of magnetic field coils and electrode pairs, respectively, which again increase/decrease the sensitivity of the color centers to magnetic fields. The color centers are preferably nitrogen vacancies in the diamond chips.

Super resolution and fast surface B-field imaging using an NV-diamond

A method and corresponding apparatus are provided for measuring neutron spin precession in an electric field with high sensitivity suitable for practical applications in non-destructive testing, imaging, and the like. Production of a neutron beam with a polarization vector P is followed by transmitting the spin-polarized neutron beam through a sample region in which there is a target generating an electric field, polarization-analyzing the transmitted neutron beam with an analyzing direction orthogonal to P, detecting an intensity of the polarization-analyzed neutron beam; and mapping the detected neutron-beam intensity to a field-strength value for the target electric field.

Detection and imaging of electric fields, using polarized neutrons

A guided cold-atom inertial sensor system comprises an atom trap integrated platform, a laser system, a magnetic field system, a control system, and a computing system. The laser system and magnetic field system are adapted to form a magneto-optical trap (MOT) about a suspended waveguide of the atom trap integrated platform made of membrane integrated photonics. After loading cold atoms from a MOT, the photonic atom trap integrated platform generates one-dimensional guided atoms with an evanescent field optical dipole trap (EF-ODT) along the optical waveguide to create guided atomic accelerometers/gyroscopes. Motion of atomic wavepackets in a superposition state is created along the guided atom geometry by way of state-dependent momentum kicks. The light-pulse sequence of guided atom interferometry splits, redirects, and recombines atomic wavepackets, which allows measurement of atom interference fringes sensitive to inertial forces via a probe laser.

Guided cold atom inertial sensors with membrane integrated photonics on atom trap integrated platforms

An atom trap integrated platform (ATIP) comprises a substrate, a membrane, and a suspended waveguide. The substrate has an opening formed therein. The membrane extends across a portion of the substrate opening. The suspended waveguide is formed on the membrane such that the suspended waveguide extends from a first edge of the substrate to a second edge. A magneto-optical trap (MOT) is formed around the suspended waveguide by emitting a plurality of cooling beams and a repump through the substrate opening. Evanescent fields are established above the suspended waveguide by coupling two trapping beams through the suspended waveguide, which trapping beams are red-detuned and blue-detuned with respect to the resonant optical transition of the atoms. By forming the MOT within the evanescent fields, an evanescent field optical trap (EFOT) is formed.

Suspended waveguides on membrane and needle structures towards photonic atom trap integrated platforms

In a method of atomic electrometry, EIT spectroscopy is performed on host atoms of an alkali metal in a vapor cell. The EIT spectroscopy indicates a resonant energy of a probed Rydberg state of the host atoms. The vapor cell is exposed to an ambient electric field. A shift in the resonant energy as indicated by the EIT spectroscopy is observed and interpreted as a measurement of the ambient field. During the measurement of the ambient field, a bias electric field is generated inside the vapor cell by shining light into the vapor cell from a light source situated outside of the cell. The bias field is useful for increasing the sensitivity of the measurement.

Low-frequency atomic electrometry

A method is provided for sensing a magnetic field in a magnetic gradiometer of the kind in which pump light and light constituting an optical carrier traverse first and second atomic vapor cells that contain host atoms and that are separated from each other by a known distance. According to such method, the host atoms are prepared in a coherent superposition of two quantum states that differ in energy by an amount that is sensitive to an ambient magnetic field. Modulation of the optical carrier in the respective cells gives rise to sidebands that interfere to generate a beat frequency indicative of the magnetic field gradient. The host atoms are prepared at least in a mode that allows measurement of ambient magnetic field components perpendicular to the axis of the pump light. In such mode, the host atoms are spin-polarized by pump light while subjected to a controlled magnetic field directed parallel to the pump beam, and then the controlled magnetic field is adiabatically extinguished.

Optically pumped gradient magnetometer

An atomic magnetometer includes an atomic vapor cell, an optical system conformed to transmit pump radiation and probe radiation through the vapor cell, and an optical detection system arranged to receive and detect probe radiation after it exits the vapor cell. Improvements in the separation of spatial channels are achieved by using a a diffractive optical element arranged to divide at least the pump radiation into a plurality of separate diffracted beams that traverse the vapor cell.

Atomic magnetometer with multiple spatial channels

An atomic interferometric device useful, e.g., for measuring acceleration or rotation is provided. The device comprises at least one vapor cell containing a Raman-active chemical species, an optical system, and at least one detector. The optical system is conformed to implement a Raman pulse interferometer in which Raman transitions are stimulated in a warm vapor of the Raman-active chemical species. The detector is conformed to detect changes in the populations of different internal states of atoms that have been irradiated by the optical system.

Growing community of inventors

Albuquerque, NM, United States of America

Yuan-Yu Jau