Technical writing from the DeteQt engineering team. Physics foundations, field deployment observations, and the path from NV-center physics to instrument-grade hardware.
A direct comparison of noise floors, temperature drift profiles, and field range between NV center diamond sensors and Hall-effect magnetometers in two measurement scenarios: geological survey and cardiac magnetic signal detection.
Read articleHigh-field MRI units require fixed installations, significant infrastructure, and facilities unavailable outside metropolitan centres. Ultra-low-field systems using room-temperature sensors open a different path, with tradeoffs worth examining honestly.
Chemical vapour deposition produces the diamond substrate; nitrogen implantation creates the NV centres; optical polishing and contact alignment complete the chip. Here is how we think about each step and where yield loss occurs.
OPMs and NV center sensors are both optically read-out room-temperature magnetometers, but their operating regimes, noise characteristics, and field portability differ in ways that matter for geophysical survey work.
For engineers and geoscientists who need to understand what a quantum magnetometer actually measures and why its sensitivity behaves differently from classical instruments. No quantum mechanics prerequisite required.
Hard-rock geological settings present specific challenges: high magnetic background from host rock, structural complexity, and the need to resolve small amplitude anomalies in the presence of remanent magnetisation. How quantum sensing addresses each.
Mining sites run generators, drills, and haul trucks within metres of survey equipment. How our sensor design and software stack reject these interference sources without sacrificing sensitivity at the geological frequency bands of interest.
MSR-free magnetoencephalography is possible but the remaining sensitivity gap matters. An honest assessment of where room-temperature chip-scale sensors stand today and what measurement classes are within reach versus still constrained.
NV center resonance frequencies shift with temperature. In field conditions this drift is not small. This post describes the in-situ calibration protocol we developed to maintain measurement accuracy across 30-degree ambient temperature swings.
What is the realistic path for a deep-tech hardware company in Sydney trying to commercialise laboratory physics? Notes on the ecosystem, manufacturing access, pilot partner acquisition, and what surprised us in year one.
