Intrinsic Vectorial Gradiometry via Quantum Control of a Spin-based Sensor
Abstract
Gradiometry provides a versatile alternative to passive environmental shielding in quasi-static magnetometry, effectively suppressing background noise through differential signal extraction. Nevertheless, traditional implementations rely on multi-sensor architectures restricted to spatial gradients, where subtracting signals from independent detectors involves imperfect suppression of common-mode noise and artifacts, limiting their sensitivity. To overcome these limitations, we introduce a quantum control sequence that enables intrinsic temporal and spatial vectorial gradiometry of magnetic fields using a single quantum sensor. Our method provides direct access to first and higher-order derivatives of the magnetic field and extended applicability via auxiliary nuclear spin memory. We showcase this protocol on an ensemble of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond and combine it with mechanical control to realize high-precision differential sensing. Through detailed numerical simulations, we demonstrate the performance of our scheme in two critical DC magnetometry applications: (i) vector magnetic anomaly detection and (ii) non-invasive gradiometry of neuronal action potentials.
Related
- Reliable iToF Depth Sensing via Sensor-Intrinsic Uncertainty Modeling and State-Space Restoration
- Magnetic control of reflectionless states and an intrinsic-mode exceptional point in a magnon-phonon coupling system
- Intrinsic Orbital Hall Effect in Degenerate Spin-3/2 Systems driven by the quantum metric
- Quantum Sensing of Non-Repeatable Events Enhanced by In-Sensor Quantum Reservoir Computing
- Intrinsic (valley) thermal Hall conductivity of phonons in graphene for integer quantum Hall phases
BibTeX
@misc{olivan2026intrinsic,
title = {{Intrinsic Vectorial Gradiometry via Quantum Control of a Spin-based Sensor}},
author = {Jaime García Oliván and Pablo Acedo and Oliver T. Whaites and Jorge Casanova},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.21776},
eprint = {2609.21776},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.21776},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Intrinsic Vectorial Gradiometry via Quantum Control of a Spin-based Sensor
AU - Jaime García Oliván
AU - Pablo Acedo
AU - Oliver T. Whaites
AU - Jorge Casanova
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/18
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.21776
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.21776
AB - Gradiometry provides a versatile alternative to passive environmental shielding in quasi-static magnetometry, effectively suppressing background noise through differential signal extraction. Nevertheless, traditional implementations rely on multi-sensor architectures restricted to spatial gradients, where subtracting signals from independent detectors involves imperfect suppression of common-mode noise and artifacts, limiting their sensitivity. To overcome these limitations, we introduce a quantum control sequence that enables intrinsic temporal and spatial vectorial gradiometry of magnetic fields using a single quantum sensor. Our method provides direct access to first and higher-order derivatives of the magnetic field and extended applicability via auxiliary nuclear spin memory. We showcase this protocol on an ensemble of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond and combine it with mechanical control to realize high-precision differential sensing. Through detailed numerical simulations, we demonstrate the performance of our scheme in two critical DC magnetometry applications: (i) vector magnetic anomaly detection and (ii) non-invasive gradiometry of neuronal action potentials.
ER -