Robotic vectorial field alignment for spin-based quantum sensors

Abstract

Developing practical quantum technologies will require the exquisite manipulation of fragile systems in a robust and repeatable way. As quantum technologies move towards real world applications, from biological sensing to communication in space, increasing experimental complexity introduces constraints that can be alleviated by the introduction of new technologies. Robotics has shown tremendous progress in realising increasingly smart, autonomous and highly dexterous machines. Here, we demonstrate that a robotic arm equipped with a magnet can sensitise an NV centre quantum magnetometer in challenging conditions unachievable with standard techniques. We generate vector magnetic field with $1^\circ$ angular and 0.1 mT amplitude accuracy and determine the orientation of a single stochastically-aligned spin-based sensor in a constrained physical environment. Our work opens up the prospect of integrating robotics across many quantum degrees of freedom in constrained settings, allowing for increased prototyping speed, control, and robustness in quantum technology applications.