Post by Baron von Lotsov on Aug 28, 2024 9:10:21 GMT
Well done to the Germans for this one.
Here is how it works.
Take a synthetically produced diamond with nitrogen doping using ion implantation. This causes the lattice to have nitrogen atoms in place of carbon which creates a quantum system where a coherent quantum state can be maintained at room temperature due to the tough topology of the diamond's molecular structure. Most coherent states will be destroyed even with very low temperatures hence why may of these systems have to work at liquid hydrogen temperatures, but this system is far more robust.
The sensing mechanism is to do with spin. Spin flip in a magnetic field has an energy difference linearly proportional to the field. You can read this out using a scanning laser tuned to the correct energy of photon (its wavelength) and read out the precise magnetic field at an x, y position on a plate of this stuff. What you end up with is like a CCD camera that can see magnetic fields at very high resolution, since we are talking resolutions on the atomic scale.
By the way, the first comment under this video is a guy from the team who invented it.