Laser-enhanced quantum sensing boosts sensitivity and dynamic range

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2509.05204v1
• Date: Fri, 05 Sep 2025 16:07:23 GMT
• Title: Laser-enhanced quantum sensing boosts sensitivity and dynamic range
• Authors: Florian Schall, Lukas Lindner, Yves Rottstaedt, Marcel Rattunde, Florentin Reiter, Rüdiger Quay, Roman Bek, Alexander M. Zaitsev, Takeshi Ohshima, Andrew D. Greentree, Jan Jeske,
• Abstract summary: Magnetometers based on nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond have emerged as the most important solid-state quantum sensors.<n>Here, we demonstrate a laser threshold magnetometry-based NV system that avoids limitations.<n>The resulting system exhibits a dynamic range of $pm$280,$mathrmmu$T with a photon-shot-noise-limited sensitivity of 670,fT/$sqrtmathrmHz$, which we demonstrate to improve super-linearly with contrast.
• Score: 29.749836788447226
• License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
• Abstract: Magnetometers based on nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond have emerged as the most important solid-state quantum sensors. However, ensembles are limited in optical contrast to typically a few percent and high-sensitivity variants usually possess only a few $\mathrm{\mu}$T dynamic range. Here, we demonstrate a laser threshold magnetometry-based NV system that avoids these limitations. By integrating the NV centers into a laser cavity and showing magnetic-field-dependent shifts of the laser threshold, we observe 100\,\% contrast with strong output signals up to 50\,mW. The resulting system exhibits a dynamic range of $\pm$280\,$\mathrm{\mu}$T with a photon-shot-noise-limited sensitivity of 670\,fT/$\sqrt{\mathrm{Hz}}$, which we demonstrate to improve super-linearly with contrast. The ratio of these sensing-relevant parameters, that can be traded at the cost of each other, marks an improvement factor of 780 over typical fluorescence-based readout and vapor cell sensors. Such performance improvements open the door to new generations of sensors for applications including magnetoencephalography, magnetic navigation, and magnetic anomaly detection.

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