German Researchers Successfully Develop Quantum Sensors For Nitrogen Atom Size

Quantum technology opens up new avenues for the miniaturization of electronic components. Recently,  the Fraunhofer Institute for Solid State Physics (IAF) and the Maple  Institute for Solid State Research published information that their  scientists have jointly developed a quantum sensor that can be used to  measure micro magnetic fields such as hard disk magnetic fields and the  human brain. Radio waves.

As  integrated circuits become more complex, a current Pentium processor  can hold about 30 million transistors, so the magnetic structure of the  hard disk can be recognized only in the range of 10 to 20 nanometers,  which is smaller than the 80 to 120 nanometer-meter flu virus. The order of magnitude is only accessible to quantum physics. The newly developed quantum sensors accurately measure these tiny magnetic fields for future hard drives. The new quantum sensor has only the size of nitrogen atoms, and it is a synthetic diamond as a carrier material. Diamond has good mechanical and chemical stability as well as superior  thermal conductivity. The crystal can be made into a semiconductor by  introducing foreign atoms such as boron and phosphorus, and is very  suitable for optical circuits.

IAF  researchers in recent decades to develop and optimize the equipment  used to produce diamond, a special oval plasma reactor mold. At  a high temperature of 800-900 degrees Celsius, a diamond layer can be  grown from the introduction of methane gas and hydrogen gas on a diamond  substrate, and a crystal with a length of 3-8 mm is peeled from the  substrate and polished, and finally manufactured to have a quantum  physical use. Pure carbon crystal stable isotope C12 pure crystal diamond. Methane gas used by the zirconium filter purification, hydrogen purification by other means.

There  are two ways researchers can make magnetic field detectors: implanting a  single nitrogen atom directly or adding nitrogen at the very last step  of making a diamond. After  that, in the clean room using oxygen plasma etching method can produce a  similar atomic force microscope slender diamond tip. The key points are the introduced nitrogen atoms and the adjacent vacancies in the lattice. The  nitrogen vacancy center is the actual sensor that emits light when  irradiated with laser and microwaves. The emitted light can vary with  the intensity of the magnetic field in the vicinity. Experts compare this innovation to Optical Resonance Magnetic Resonance (ODMR).

This  sensor can not only accurately detect the magnetic field at the  nanometer level, but also determine its strength and its application  potential is astonishing. For  example, you can monitor the quality of your hard drive, detect small  errors in densely stored data, and find faulty pieces of data to remove  before writing and reading. Therefore,  it is possible to reduce waste that rapidly increases with the  acceleration of miniaturization and reduce production costs. According to IAF experts, this quantum sensor can also be used to measure many weak magnetic fields, including brain waves. Not  only is it more accurate than current brainwave sensors, it is also  available at room temperature without the need for liquid nitrogen  cooling.