An excitation light irradiation device includes a substrate having a color center. The color center is excited by an excitation light incident to the substrate. The substrate includes first and second reflection surfaces facing each other, and first and second end surfaces facing each other. When the excitation light enters into the substrate, the incident excitation light travels from the first end surface to the second end surfaces while repeatedly reflecting between the first and second reflection surfaces. The second end surface is inclined. The second end surface reflects the incident excitation light so as to cause the incident excitation light to be emitted from one of the first and second reflection surfaces.

A measurement device includes a microwave generator, an electron spin resonance member, and an observation system. The microwave generator is configured to generate a microwave. The microwave is configured for an electron spin quantum operation based on a Rabi oscillation. The microwave generator has a coil configured to emit the microwave and an electrostatic capacitor electrically connected in parallel to the coil. The microwave is irradiated to the electron spin resonance member. The observation system is configured to measure a physical quantity in a measured field in response to a state of the electron spin resonance member when the electron spin resonance member is irradiated by the microwave. The coil has first and second ends from which first and second legs continuously extended. The electrostatic capacitor spans the first and second legs and is electrically connected in parallel to the coil.

The present disclosure relates to the technical field of current sensors, and provides a fiber-optic current transformer based on nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond, and a measurement method. The fiber-optic current transformer based on NV centers in diamond includes a device for laser light excitation and reflected light reception and analysis, a diamond NV center probe, a magnetic concentrator, and a microwave excitation device. The fiber-optic current transformer based on NV centers in diamond includes three measurement methods: an all-optical measurement method, a non-all-optical measurement method, and a measurement method combining the all-optical measurement method and the non-all-optical measurement method. A sensor in the present disclosure has advantages of a simple structure, strong practicability, resistance to external interference, and strong robustness.

Systems and methods directed to a quantum processing apparatus are provided. The apparatus comprises M solid-state qubits, where M>1, and control electronics, which are connected to the solid-state qubits. The control electronics comprise one or more qubit readout circuits, where each of the qubit readout circuits is connected to at least one of the solid-state qubits and comprises a downsampling analog-to-digital converter (hereafter DSADC). Each DSADC is configured to downsample analog signals obtained from the at least one of the solid-state qubits. Such a DSADC operates in the n.sup.th Nyquist zone of the spectrum of the analog signals obtained, so as to down-convert such analog signals from the n.sup.th Nyquist zone to the m.sup.th Nyquist zone of the spectrum, where n>m≥1, prior to sampling the analog signals to convert them into digital signals, in operation. One or more embodiments of the invention are further directed to a related method of operating such a quantum processing apparatus.

A sensing probe may be formed of a diamond material comprising one or more spin defects that are configured to emit fluorescent light and are located no more than 50 nm from a sensing surface of the sensing probe. The sensing probe may include an optical outcoupling structure formed by the diamond material and configured to optically guide the fluorescent light toward an output end of the optical outcoupling structure. An optical detector may detect the fluorescent light that is emitted from the spin defects and that exits through the output end of the optical outcoupling structure after being optically guided therethrough. A mounting system may hold the sensing probe and control a distance between the sensing surface of the sensing probe and a surface of a sample while permitting relative motion between the sensing surface and the sample surface.

An apparatus for measuring a magnetic field strength is provided. The apparatus includes a stage on which a sample to be measured is placed, a cantilever having a tip, an optical system having a light source and a light receiver, and a microwave power source. The tip is a diamond tip having a nitrogen vacancy defect. The optical system is configured such that excitation light from the light source is focused at the diamond tip. The cantilever is configured as a coaxial microwave antenna through which microwaves from the microwave power source are supplied to the diamond tip.

A MRI device including a main field unit for establishing a main magnetic field (MF) in an imaging region, a gradient coil assembly for generating a gradient field in the imaging region, a RF arrangement for sending excitation signals to and receiving MR signals from the imaging region, a field camera for determining MF information in the imaging region, the field camera comprising multiple MF sensors arranged at measurement positions enclosing the imaging region, and a controller. The controller is configured to receive sensor data for each measurement positions, from the sensor data, calculate the MF information for the imaging region, and implement a calibration and/or correction measure depending on the MF information. The field camera may be a vector-field camera acquiring vector-valued sensor data describing the MF at each measurement positions three-dimensionally. The controller may determine the MF information to three dimensionally describe the MF in the imaging region.

Apparatus and methods for the detection of proteins in biological fluids such as urine using a label-free assay is described. Specific proteins are detected by their binding to highly specific capture reagents such as SOMAmers that are attached to the surface of a substrate. Changes to these capture reagents and their local environment upon protein binding modify the behavior of color centers (e.g., fluorescence, ionization state, spin state, etc.) embedded in the substrate beneath the bound capture reagents. These changes can be read out, for example, optically or electrically, for an individual color center or as an average response of many color centers.

The magnetic resonance member 1 is a member that is arranged in a measurement target AC physical field, and in which a quantum operation can be performed in a specific quantum system. The coil 2 and the high frequency power supply 3 apply a magnetic field of a microwave to the magnetic resonance member 1. The irradiating device 4 irradiates the magnetic resonance member 1 with light, and the detecting device 5 detects from the magnetic resonance member 1 a physical phenomenon corresponding to the measurement target AC physical field. Further, the measurement control unit 21 performs the DC physical field measurement sequence a predetermined plural times, and in each of the plural times of the DC physical field measurement sequence, determines a detection value of the physical phenomenon detected by the detecting device 5. The calculation unit 22 calculates a measurement result for a specific time span of the measurement target AC physical field on the basis of the detection values corresponding to the plural times of the DC physical field measurement sequence.

A scalar magnetometer includes a sensor element, a circuit carrier, a pump radiation source, a radiation receiver and evaluation means. The pump radiation source emits pump radiation. The sensor element preferably includes one or more NV centers in diamond as paramagnetic centers. This paramagnetic center emits fluorescence radiation when irradiated with pump radiation. The radiation receiver converts a intensity signal of the fluorescence radiation into a receiver output signal. The evaluation means detects and/or stores and/or transmits the value of the receiver output signal. The material of the circuit carrier is preferably transparent for the pump radiation in the radiation path between pump radiation source and sensor element and transparent for the fluorescence radiation in the radiation path between sensor element and radiation receiver. The components sensor element, pump radiation source, radiation receiver and evaluation means are preferably mechanically attached to the circuit carrier .