High efficiency radio frequency antennas for amplifier free quantum sensing applications

S Mahtab; P Milas; D-T Veal; M G Spencer; B Ozturk

doi:10.1063/5.0136233

High efficiency radio frequency antennas for amplifier free quantum sensing applications

Rev Sci Instrum. 2023 Apr 1;94(4):044701. doi: 10.1063/5.0136233.

Authors

S Mahtab¹, P Milas¹, D-T Veal¹, M G Spencer^{2

3}, B Ozturk¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland 21234, USA.
² Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland 21234, USA.
³ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14850, USA.

PMID: 38081260
DOI: 10.1063/5.0136233

Abstract

Radio frequency (RF) signals are frequently used in emerging quantum applications due to their spin state manipulation capability. Efficient coupling of RF signals into a particular quantum system requires the utilization of carefully designed and fabricated antennas. Nitrogen vacancy (NV) defects in diamond are commonly utilized platforms in quantum sensing experiments with the optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) method, where an RF antenna is an essential element. We report on the design and fabrication of high efficiency coplanar RF antennas for quantum sensing applications. Single and double ring coplanar RF antennas were designed with -37 dB experimental return loss at 2.87 GHz, the zero-field splitting frequency of the negatively charged NV defect in diamond. The efficiency of both antennas was demonstrated in magnetic field sensing experiments with NV color centers in diamond. An RF amplifier was not needed, and the 0 dB output of a standard RF signal generator was adequate to run the ODMR experiments due to the high efficiency of the RF antennas.