Apparatus and method for estimating absolute axes' orientations for a magnetic detection system

A system for determining an orientation of a nitrogen vacancy diamond material comprising:

• a nitrogen vacancy (NV) diamond material comprising a plurality of NV centers;
• a magnetic field generator configured to generate a magnetic field that is applied to the NV diamond material;
• a radio frequency (RF) excitation source configured to provide RF excitation to the NV diamond material;
• an optical excitation source configured to provide optical excitation to the NV diamond material;
• an optical detector configured to receive an optical signal emitted by the NV diamond material, the optical signal being a fluorescence intensity having a plurality of reduced responses across a frequency range of the RF excitation;
• and
• a controller configured to:
• control the magnetic field generator to generate a control magnetic field that separates the plurality of reduced responses in the optical signal emitted by the NV diamond material;
• control the magnetic field generator to successively generate a plurality of calibration magnetic fields, each having a predetermined direction;
• successively receive a plurality of light detection signals from the optical detector based on the optical signals emitted by the NV diamond material;
• store a plurality of measurement values based on the successively received plurality of light detection signals;
• and
• calculate an orientation of the NV diamond material based on the stored measurement values.

A system for determining an orientation of a magneto-optical defect center material comprising:

• a magneto-optical defect center material comprising a plurality of magneto-optical defect centers;
• a radio frequency (RF) excitation source configured to provide RF excitation to the magneto-optical defect center material;
• an optical excitation source configured to provide optical excitation to the magneto-optical defect center material;
• an optical detector configured to receive an optical signal emitted by the magneto-optical defect center material, the optical signal being a fluorescence intensity having a plurality of reduced responses across a frequency range of the RF excitation;
• a first magnetic field generator configured to generate a control magnetic field that separates the plurality of reduced responses in the optical signal emitted by the magneto-optical defect center material;
• a second magnetic field generator configured to generate a plurality of calibration magnetic fields;
• and
• a controller configured to:
• control the second magnetic field generator to successively generate the plurality of calibration magnetic fields, each having a predetermined direction;
• successively receive a plurality of light detection signals from the optical detector based on the optical signals emitted by the magneto-optical defect center material;
• store a plurality of measurement values based on the successively received plurality of light detection signals;
• and
• calculate an orientation of the magneto-optical defect center material based on the stored plurality of measurement values.

A system for determining an orientation of a magneto-optical defect center material comprising:

• a magneto-optical defect center material comprising a plurality of magneto-optical defect centers;
• a radio frequency (RF) excitation source configured to provide RF excitation to the magneto-optical defect center material;
• an optical excitation source configured to provide optical excitation to the magneto-optical defect center material;
• an optical detector configured to receive an optical signal emitted by the magneto-optical defect center material, the optical signal being a fluorescence intensity having a plurality of reduced responses across a frequency range of the RF excitation;
• a first magnetic field generator affixed to a pivot assembly, the pivot assembly being configured to position the first magnetic field generator to a predetermined orientation such that the first magnetic field generator generates a control magnetic field having a predetermined direction that separates the plurality of reduced responses in the optical signal emitted by the magneto-optical defect center material;
• a second magnetic field generator configured to generate a plurality of calibration magnetic fields;
• and
• a controller configured to:
• control the pivot assembly to position the first magnetic field generator to the predetermined orientation to generate the control magnetic field;
• control the second magnetic field generator to successively generate the plurality of calibration magnetic fields, each having a predetermined direction;
• successively receive a plurality of light detection signals from the optical detector based on the optical signals emitted by the magneto-optical defect center material;
• store a plurality of measurement values based on the successively received plurality of light detection signals;
• and
• calculate an orientation of the magneto-optical defect center material based on the stored plurality of measurement values.

A system for determining an orientation of a magneto-optical defect center material comprising:

• a magneto-optical defect center material comprising a plurality of defect centers;
• a magnetic field generator configured to generate a magnetic field;
• a radio frequency (RF) excitation source configured to provide RF excitation to the magneto-optical defect center material;
• an optical excitation source configured to provide optical excitation to the magneto-optical defect center material;
• an optical detector configured to receive an optical signal emitted by the magneto-optical defect center material, the optical signal being a fluorescence intensity having a plurality of reduced responses across a frequency range of the RF excitation;
• and
• a controller configured to:
• control the magnetic field generator to generate a control magnetic field that separates the plurality of reduced responses in the optical signal emitted by the magneto-optical defect center material;
• control the magnetic field generator to successively generate a plurality of calibration magnetic fields, each having a predetermined direction;
• successively receive a plurality of light detection signals from the optical detector based on the optical signals emitted by the magneto-optical defect center material;
• store a plurality of measurement values based on the successively received plurality of light detection signals;
• and
• calculate an orientation of the magneto-optical defect center material based on the stored measurement values.

A system for determining an orientation of a magneto-optical defect center material comprising a plurality of magneto-optical defect centers, comprising:

• means for providing radio frequency (RF) excitation to the magneto-optical defect center material;
• means for receiving an optical signal emitted by the magneto-optical defect center material, the optical signal being a fluorescence intensity having a plurality of reduced responses across a frequency range of the RF excitation;
• means for generating a control magnetic field that separates the plurality of reduced responses in the optical signal emitted by the magneto-optical defect center material;
• means for successively generating a plurality of calibration magnetic fields, each having a predetermined direction;
• means for successively receiving a plurality of light detection signals based on the optical signals emitted by the magneto-optical defect center material;
• means for storing a plurality of measurement values based on the successively received plurality of light detection signals;
• and
• means for calculating an orientation of the magneto-optical defect center material based on the stored measurement values.

A system for determining an orientation of a magneto-optical defect center material comprising:

• the magneto-optical defect center material comprising a plurality of magneto-optical defect centers;
• a radio frequency (RF) excitation source configured to provide RF excitation to the magneto-optical defect center material;
• an optical excitation source configured to provide optical excitation to the magneto-optical defect center material;
• an optical detector configured to receive an optical signal emitted by the magneto-optical defect center material, the optical signal being a fluorescence intensity having a plurality of reduced responses across a frequency range of the RF excitation;
• a first magnetic field generator configured to generate a control magnetic field that separates the plurality of reduced responses in the optical signal emitted by the magneto-optical defect center material;
• a second magnetic field generator configured to generate a plurality of calibration magnetic fields;
• and
• a controller configured to:
• control the second magnetic field generator to successively generate the plurality of calibration magnetic fields, each having a predetermined direction;
• successively receive a plurality of light detection signals from the optical detector based on the optical signals emitted by the magneto-optical defect center material;
• store a plurality of measurement values based on the successively received plurality of light detection signals;
• and
• calculate a rotation and/or reflection of a predetermined standard orientation of the magneto-optical defect center material to an actual orientation of the magneto-optical defect center material based on the stored plurality of measurement values.