In scientific fields such as materials and fundamental physics, where precise measurements of small changes in magnetic or electric fields are sometimes required, quantum sensors can play a huge role.
However, the current quantum sensors that can perform high-precision measurements have certain limitations in terms of practicality. They can only detect certain specific frequencies of the electromagnetic field, and the frequency range involved in many researches is wider than that which can be detected by current quantum sensors. much more.
It is worth mentioning that this limitation may soon become a thing of the past. Scientists at MIT have now developed a method that allows quantum sensors to be deployed to measure changes in electromagnetic radiation at any frequency without loss of sensitivity to nanoscale features.
Recently, a related paper was published under the title "Detecting Arbitrary Frequency Fields Using Quantum Mixers".
It is understood that quantum sensors come in many forms. They are actually systems obtained by placing particles in a special equilibrium state, so they are affected by small changes in the electromagnetic field in which they are located.
The new device developed by the MIT team, called a quantum mixer, can be fully adapted to any frequency that needs to be measured while ensuring nanoscale spatial resolution.
By providing a sensing arbitrary frequency signal in a single sensor, when the two signals interact, the frequency of the field is transferred to the difference between the two signals, allowing the frequency to be adjusted to Any frequency the underlying sensor is tuned to.
Specifically, a microwave beam is used to add another frequency to the quantum sensor, converting the frequency of the measured field to another frequency (the difference between the original frequency and the newly introduced frequency). That frequency is tuned to the frequency that the quantum sensor is ready to detect.
It is reported that the researchers used a specific device based on an array of nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond to conduct the experiment, and they successfully measured the 150 MHz signal using a 2.2GHz qubit detector.
This detection would not have been possible without the help of a quantum mixer. Once adjusted through the mixer, the signal is picked up perfectly without any additional modifications to the qubit sensor.
This deceptively simple approach means that quantum sensors can detect electromagnetic radiation of any frequency without loss of resolution.
The group then also conducted a detailed analysis of the study using an academic framework based on Froquet's theory, and examined the framework's numerical predictions in multiple experiments.
It is worth mentioning that although the researchers' experiments used a specific system, the system is self-contained, with both the detector and the second frequency generator packaged in a single device. They also mentioned on MIT's official website: "The principle can be applied to any type of sensor or quantum device. For example, it can be used to characterize the performance of microwave antennas in detail, enabling the characterization of antenna-generated radiation with nanometer resolution. Field distribution."
In addition, it is understood that there are ways to increase the frequency range of certain quantum sensors, but will involve the use of strong magnetic fields, which will make some details unclear and cannot achieve the results in this study. Super high resolution. On the MIT website, Wang Guoqing, the first author of the paper and Ph.D. in the MIT Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, said: "Adjusting the sensor using a strong magnetic field may destroy the properties of quantum materials, thereby affecting the phenomenon you want to measure. "
Quantum sensors provide researchers with unprecedented insight into the subatomic world and have a wealth of potential applications, including cancer detection, biological process mapping and geological exploration, as well as studying the topological phases and "time crystals" of matter. Perhaps the most exciting application of quantum sensors is the search for quantum or exotic materials that could form the basis of large-scale quantum computers.
It is understood that this study may open up new research areas in biomedicine. It enables the detection of electrical or magnetic frequency changes in the dimension of a single cell, for example, to measure the response of neurons to certain stimuli. Achieving meaningful resolution of these signals is extremely difficult to achieve with current quantum sensors, which are difficult to separate signals from noise. In addition, quantum mixers can also be used to measure the physical properties of two-dimensional materials, as well as potential quantum computing applications.
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