An array of optically pumped magnetometers includes a vapor cell arrangement having a wafer defining one or more cavities and alkali metal atoms disposed in the cavities to provide an alkali metal vapor; an array of light sources, each of the light sources arranged to illuminate a different portion of the one or more cavities of the vapor cell arrangement with light; at least one mirror arranged to reflect the light from the array of light sources after the light passes through the one or more cavities of the vapor cell arrangement; and an array of detectors to receive light reflected by the at least one mirror, wherein each of the detectors is arranged to receive light originating from one of the light sources.

Provided is an atomic vapor cell, for atomic or molecular spectroscopy, optical pumping, and/or spin-based atomic sensing, that includes a host substrate and defined there within a buried or non-buried chamber laser written in the host substrate without the need of a mask or photoresist, with either planar or three-dimensional geometry, and intended to contain an atomic vapor.

Also provided are an integrated atomic/photonic device and an apparatus, in both cases including the presently disclosed atomic vapor cell, and a method for fabricating the presently disclosed atomic vapor cell.

The present invention relates to a magnetometer (100) using optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR), where a solid state material (10), such as diamond, with an ensemble of paramagnetic defects, such as nitrogen vacancies centers NV, is applied. An optical cavity (20) is optically excited by an irradiation laser (25) arranged therefore. A coupling structure (30) causes a microwave excitation (Ω) of the paramagnetic defects, and a permanent magnetic field (40, B_C) causes a Zeeman splitting of the energy levels in the paramagnetic defects. A probing volume (PV) in the solid state material is thereby defined by the spatially overlapping volume of the optical excitation by the irradiation laser (25), the coupling structure (30) also exciting the defects, and the constant magnetic field. The magnetometer then measures an unknown magnetic field by detecting emission (27), e.g. fluorescence, from the defects in the probing volume (PV) from the double excitation of the defects by the irradiation laser, and the coupling structure exciting these defects.

A magnetometer includes: a substrate; a diamond layer on the substrate, in which the diamond layer includes a defect sub-layer including multiple lattice point defects; a microwave field transmitter; an optical source configured to emit light including a first wavelength that excites the multiple lattice point defects from a ground state to an excited state; a photodetector arranged to detect photoluminescence including a second wavelength emitted from the defect sub-layer, in which the first wavelength is different from the second wavelength; and a magnet arranged adjacent to the defect sub-layer.

A magnetic field recording system includes a headgear to be placed on a user; optically pumped magnetometers (OPMs) disposed in or on the headgear to detect magnetic fields; at least two sensing modalities selected from the following: i) a magnetic sensing modality, ii) an optical sensing modality, or iii) an inertial sensing modality; and a tracking unit configured to receive, from each of the at least two sensing modalities, a corresponding magnetic data stream, optical data stream, or inertial data stream and to track a position or orientation of the headgear or user; and a system controller configured to control operation of the OPMs and to receive, from the tracking unit, the position or orientation of the headgear or user.

Various embodiments of the present technology relate generally to the field of imaging the spatial distribution of magnetic field of biologic and non-biologic materials that may change over time and more particularly to the apparatus and methods for making such a static or dynamic spatial imaging of magnetic field distributions. Some embodiments provide for apparatus and methods for a novel magnetographic camera which enables a unique ability to determine the spatial distribution of magnetic field in a biological or non-biological sample with high spatial and temporal resolutions and high sensitivity. The use of these embodiments will greatly expand the applications of OPM-based cameras in medicine, science and industry.

A magnetometer includes a sample signal device; a reference signal device; a microwave field generator operable to apply a microwave field to the sample signal device and the reference signal device; an optical source configured to emit light including light of a first wavelength that interacts optically with the sample signal device and with the reference signal device; at least one photodetector arranged to detect a sample photoluminescence signal including light of a second wavelength emitted from the sample signal device and a reference photoluminescence signal including light of the second wavelength emitted from the reference signal device, in which the first wavelength is different from the second wavelength; and a magnet arranged adjacent to the sample signal device and the reference signal device.

Disclosed herein is a method of detecting a material response. The method includes providing an oscillating primary magnetic field to cause as ample to produce a secondary magnetic field. The method also includes reducing the effect on an atomic magnetometer of components of the primary and secondary magnetic fields in a direction substantially orthogonal to a surface of the sample. The method also includes detecting the secondary magnetic field with the atomic magnetometer to detect the material response.

A method of operating an optically pumped magnetometer (OPM) includes directing a light beam through a vapor cell of the OPM including a vapor of atoms; applying RF excitation to cause spins of the atoms to precess; measuring a frequency of the precession; for each of a plurality of different axes relative to the vapor cell, directing a light beam through the vapor cell, applying a magnetic field through the vapor cell along the axis, applying RF excitation to cause spins of the atoms to precess, and measuring a frequency of the precession in the applied magnetic field; determining magnitude and components of an ambient background magnetic field along the axes using the measured frequencies; and applying a magnetic field based on the components around the vapor cell to counteract the ambient background magnetic field to facilitate operation of the OPM in a spin exchange relaxation free (SERF) mode.

An apparatus useful for creating and measuring states of an entangled system, comprising a pair of interacting multi-level systems, each of systems comprising a state |g>, a state |r>, and state |r*>. One or more first electromagnetic fields excite a first transition between the ground state |g> and the state |r> to create an entangled system. One or more second electromagnetic fields are tuned between the state |r> and the intermediate state |r*> so that any population of the systems in |r*> are dark to a subsequent detection of a population in the systems in |g>, providing a means to distinguish the entangled system in the state |g> and the entangled system in the state |r>. In one or more examples, the systems comprise neutral Rydberg atoms.