Atomic resolution imaging using quantum sensors enabled by smart adaptive control

This is a PhD research project in Physics. Its ambition is to help make practical atomic-resolution magnetic imaging a reality, with significant future potential for biomedical technology and on society at large - from resolving the structure of proteins to monitoring nanoparticles in diagnostics. The NV center is a nitrogen-vacancy defect in a diamond crystal with a spin that is straightforward to manipulate and measure. It couples to even the tiny magnetic fields of individual atomic nuclei, allowing us to detect them. Two challenges need to be overcome to develop this towards a practical platform for sensing: the first lies in the inevitable imperfections in the surrounding crystal that interfere with the signal. So far, we lack a computationally viable yet physically sound model for this interaction. A novel approach has appeared called the automated compression of environments with which those effects can be captured accurately. The second challenge is that getting a reading from the sensor is fundamentally a statistical process and many repeated measurements are required. This will be mitigated through adaptive experiment control. As simultaneously optimizing multiple parameters on the fly remains computationally difficult, this project will use the power of machine learning to aid with the task of identifying optimal parameters (based on the current estimates / state of knowledge) in real time.