Oscillator-based solid-state spin sensor

US12032044B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology · US

Inventors

• Danielle A. Braje · Winchester, US
• Jennifer May Schloss · Cambridge, US
• Linh M. Pham · Cambridge, US
• John F. Barry · Cambridge, US
• Erik R. Eisenach · Cambridge, US
• Michael F. O'Keeffe · Medford, US
• Jonah A. Majumder · Cambridge, US
• Jessica Joy Kedziora · San Diego, US
• Peter Moulton · Bedford, US
• Matthew Steinecker · Medford, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Dec 28, 2020
• Grant date: Jul 9, 2024
• Expiry date: Nov 4, 2042

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G01R33/60
• WIPO field: Telecommunications
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

We have developed a high-performance, low-volume, low-weight, and low-power sensor based on a self-sustaining oscillator. The techniques described here may be used for sensing various fields; we demonstrate magnetic sensing. The oscillator is based on a dielectric resonator that contains paramagnetic defects and is connected to a sustaining amplifier in a feedback loop. The resonance frequency of the dielectric resonator shifts in response to changes in the magnetic field, resulting in a shift in the frequency of the self-sustaining oscillator. The value of the magnetic field is thereby encoded in the shift or modulation output of the self-sustaining oscillator. The sensor as demonstrated uses no optics, no input microwaves, and, not including digitization electronics, consumes less than 300 mW of power and exhibits a sensitivity at or below tens of pT/√{square root over (Hz)}. In some implementations, the sensor is less than 1 mL in volume.