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  • Open Access

Integration architecture for a pocket-sized quantum vector magnetometer using spin defects in silicon carbide

Andreas Gottscholl*, Corey J. Cochrane, and Hannes Kraus†

  • *Contact author: gottscholl.andreas@gmail.com
  • †Contact author: hannes.kraus@jpl.nasa.gov
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Phys. Rev. Applied 26, 034048 – Published 22 September, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/51zn-q6t6

Abstract

We present a miniaturized, modular vector magnetometer based on silicon vacancy (VSi−) centers in 4H-SiC. While N-V-diamond magnetometers can offer high sensitivity, spacecraft integration is often complicated by their requirement for disruptive, mT-scale bias fields. Our silicon carbide (SiC) architecture instead enables a net-zero dc magnetic footprint suitable for magnetically clean payloads, in an integrated demonstrator with a credit-card-scale footprint and a total mass of 185 g. A transmission-geometry SiC-GaAs wafer stack with quartz-rod coupling enables efficient photoluminescence collection while suppressing residual pump light. Resonant rf excitation near 70 MHz is provided by a detuned commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) NFC coil with tunable capacitance and impedance matching. Modulating the spin energy levels in all three orientations using orthogonal Helmholtz coil pairs enables spin-dependent photoluminescence detection and confirms vector operation. The fully integrated instrument achieves a sensitivity of 4  μT/Hz. A detailed noise budget attributes the performance gap primarily to a 225-fold reduction in optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) contrast (1.8% to 0.008%) caused by the poor rf B1 filling factor of the unoptimized COTS coil. With benchtop laser and readout systems, the instrument head reaches 1  μT/Hz, identifying laser and electronic-driver noise as the dominant remaining instrument-level contribution. The modular architecture enables independent subsystem optimization and provides a roadmap toward the single-digit nT/Hz benchtop limit.

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Phys. Rev. Applied 26, 034048– Published 22 September, 2026
  • Received 9 December 2025
  • Revised 30 June 2026
  • Accepted 21 July 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

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