Magnetometer and method thereof

Abstract

The invention relates to a magnetometer and a method thereof. The magnetometer includes a resonant atomic medium, a photonic crystal surface emitting laser (PCSEL), and a photodetector. The resonant atomic media include color centers or other dopants that form vacancies that emit fluorescence when excited by excitation light having an excitation wavelength. The characteristic of the emitted fluorescence depends on the magnetic field applied to the resonant atomic medium. The PCSEL is configured to generate excitation light having a vacant excitation wavelength and to direct the excitation light to the resonant atomic medium. The light detector is configured to receive the emitted fluorescence and generate a measurement signal indicative of the emitted fluorescence and a magnetic field applied to the resonant atomic medium.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Aspects of the present invention relate to magnetometers, and in particular to optical magnetometers. Background Art

[0002] Conventional magnetometers are typically limited by size, complexity, and sensitivity. Summary of the Invention

[0003] Shown in at least one of the accompanying drawings and / or described in connection therewith, and more completely set forth in the claims, is an optical magnetometer for measuring magnetic fields utilizing a photonic crystal surface emitting laser (PCSEL) and a resonant atomic medium.

[0004] These and other advantages, aspects and novel features of the present disclosure, as well as details of illustrated embodiments thereof, will be more fully understood from the following description and drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0005] The various features and advantages of the present disclosure may be more readily understood by referring to the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals represent like structural elements.

[0006] Figure 1 A magnetometer having a photonic crystal surface emitting laser (PCSEL) on a resonant atomic dielectric substrate is depicted in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0007] Figure 2 A magnetometer having an array of PCSELs on a resonant atomic dielectric substrate is depicted in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0008] Figure 3 Depicted are magnetometers having a PCSEL with an optical metasurface on a resonant atomic dielectric substrate in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0009] Figure 4 A magnetometer having a PCSEL with a grating coupler on a resonant atomic dielectric substrate is depicted in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0010] Figure 5 A magnetometer with a PCSEL having a resonant atomic dielectric layer is depicted in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0011] The following discussion provides various examples of optical magnetometers that measure magnetic fields using a photonic crystal surface-emitting laser (PCSEL) and a resonant atomic medium. Such examples are non-limiting, and the scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the specific examples disclosed. In the following discussion, the terms "example" and "for example" are non-limiting.

[0012] The accompanying drawings illustrate general constructional aspects, and descriptions and details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present disclosure. Furthermore, the elements in the accompanying drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some elements in the accompanying drawings may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help enhance understanding of the examples discussed in this disclosure. Identical reference numerals in different drawings represent identical elements.

[0013] The term "and / or" refers to any one or more of the items in a list connected by "and / or". As an example, "x and / or y" refers to any element in the three-element set {(x), (y), (x, y)}. As another example, "x, y, and / or z" refers to any element in the seven-element set {(x), (y), (z), (x, y), (x, z), (y, z), (x, y, z)}.

[0014] The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” and / or “including” are “open” terms and specify the presence of stated features but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features.

[0015] The terms "first," "second," etc., may be used herein to describe various elements, and these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. Thus, for example, a first element discussed in this disclosure could be referred to as a second element without departing from the teachings of this disclosure.

[0016] Unless otherwise specified, the term "coupled" can be used to describe two elements that are in direct contact with each other or to describe two elements that are indirectly connected through one or more other elements. For example, if element A is coupled to element B, element A can be directly in contact with element B or indirectly connected to element B through an intermediate element C. Similarly, the terms "over" or "on" can be used to describe two elements that are in direct contact with each other or to describe two elements that are indirectly connected through one or more other elements.

[0017] Aspects of the present invention relate to magnetometers and optical magnetometers. In various embodiments, the optical magnetometer includes a photonic crystal surface emitting laser (PCSEL) and diamond or silicon carbide with color centers as a resonant atomic medium. The resonant atomic medium can impart magnetic field detection capabilities to the PCSEL. The incorporation of a resonant atomic medium (e.g., diamond, silicon carbide, etc.) can result in a more compact, sensitive, and / or efficient magnetometer compared to conventional technologies.

[0018] Now refer to Figure 1 , shows an example of an optical magnetometer 10. The optical magnetometer 10 may include a resonant atomic medium (RAM) substrate 100, a PCSEL 200, and a fluorescence detector 300. Typically, the PCSEL 200 emits light having an excitation wavelength X. The excitation light X may be directed toward the RAM substrate 100, and color centers embedded in the RAM substrate 100 may emit fluorescence F in a manner that depends on or is otherwise indicative of the magnetic field experienced by the RAM substrate 100. The fluorescence detector 300 may receive the emitted fluorescence F and generate a fluorescence measurement signal that indicates the detected emitted fluorescence and, therefore, the magnetic field experienced by the RAM substrate 100. In this manner, the optical magnetometer 10 can detect and / or measure magnetic fields proximate to the optical magnetometer 100.

[0019] RAM substrate 100 may include diamond or silicon carbide (SiC) embedded with color centers. These color centers form vacancies (e.g., nitrogen vacancies in diamond, silicon vacancies in SiC) that fluoresce in response to excitation light having an excitation wavelength X. Furthermore, the fluorescence of these vacancies can vary based on the magnetic field applied to RAM substrate 100. Specifically, under an applied magnetic field, the atomic spins within the vacancy centers can be deflected, resulting in energy shifts observable through changes in absorption or photoluminescence. These energy shifts correspond to changes in the emitted fluorescence F and can be monitored by fluorescence detector 300 of magnetometer 10. The detected energy shifts can be used to determine the characteristics of the magnetic field.

[0020] In order to supply excitation light X to the RAM substrate 100, the PCSEL 200 may be formed on the top side of the RAM substrate 100. The PCSEL 200 may be configured to emit light X from the bottom surface or bottom side of the PCSEL to the top side of the RAM substrate 100. Furthermore, the PCSEL 200 may be configured to emit light X having an excitation wavelength of the color centers of the RAM substrate 100. Thus, the emitted excitation light X may be guided to the RAM substrate 100 and cause the color centers of the RAM substrate 100 to fluoresce.

[0021] As shown, the PCSEL 200 can be constructed as a stack of layers on the top side of the RAM substrate 100. Specifically, the PCSEL stack can include a lower cladding layer 210, an active region 220, a photonic crystal 230, an upper cladding layer 240, and an upper Bragg reflector (DBR) stack or upper reflector 250. Specifically, the bottom side of the lower cladding layer 210 can be on the top side of the RAM substrate 100, the bottom side of the active region 220 can be on the top side of the lower cladding layer 210, and the bottom side of the photonic crystal 230 can be on the top side of the active region 220. In addition, the bottom side of the upper cladding layer 240 can be on the top side of the photonic crystal 230, and the bottom side of the upper reflector 250 can be on the top side of the upper cladding layer 240.

[0022] The PCSEL 200 may also include a p-type contact 260 and an n-type contact 270 on the top side of the RAM substrate 100. The p-type contact 260 may be electrically coupled to the lower cladding layer 210. Similarly, the n-type contact 270 may be electrically coupled to the upper cladding layer 240. As further shown, the PCSEL 200 may include an electrical isolation region 262 that electrically isolates the p-type contact 260 from the lateral sides of the active region 220, the photonic crystal 230, and the upper cladding layer 240. The PCSEL 200 may also include an electrical isolation region 272 that electrically isolates the n-type contact 270 from the lateral sides of the lower cladding layer 210, the active region 220, and the photonic crystal 230.

[0023] The depicted placement of the p-type contact 260 and the n-type contact 270 is merely an example. Other embodiments may position the p-type contact 260 and the n-type contact 270 differently. For example, the p-type contact 260 and the n-type contact 270 may be swapped such that the p-type contact 260 is coupled to the upper cladding layer 240 and the n-type contact 270 is coupled to the lower cladding layer 210. The active region 220, which may include quantum wells, quantum dots, and / or quantum dashes, may be electrically pumped via the corresponding electrodes of the cladding layers 210 and 240, via the p-type contact 260 and the n-type contact 270. This electrical pumping of the PCSEL 200 may cause the active region 220 to emit light and generate excitation light X via the photonic crystal 230. In some embodiments, the PCSEL 200 may generate excitation light X at an excitation wavelength suitable for exciting vacancies in the RAM substrate 100. In some embodiments, the p-type contact 260 and the n-type contact can electrically pump the PCSEL 200 to produce continuous, frequency-modulated, and / or polarized excitation light X, which can improve magnetometer sensitivity.

[0024] The photonic crystal 230 may comprise a thin layer of semiconductor material that serves as a lateral cavity (i.e., a cavity extending parallel to the top side of the RAM substrate 100). Specifically, the photonic crystal may comprise a thin layer of gallium arsenide (GaAs), gallium nitride (GaN), indium phosphide (InP), or other semiconductor materials. Furthermore, the photonic crystal 230 may comprise a pattern (e.g., square, triangular, etc.) of holes of air or other dielectric material covering a specific area. The photonic crystal 230 may also be transparent to light having an excitation wavelength suitable for exciting the color centers of the RAM substrate 100.

[0025] Active region 220 may be coupled to photonic crystal 230 and may provide laser gain by stimulated emission of radiation. Active region 220 may be separated from photonic crystal 230 by a thin electron blocking layer that keeps electrical carriers confined in active region 220.

[0026] As shown, the active region 220 and the photonic crystal 230 may be sandwiched between the lower cladding layer 210 and the upper cladding layer 240. Specifically, the bottom side of the upper cladding layer 240 is on the top side of the photonic crystal 230, and the bottom side of the active region 220 is on the top side of the lower cladding layer 210. Figure 1 200, but the positions of the active region 220 and the photonic crystal 230 may be swapped in some embodiments of the PCSEL 200. In such embodiments, the bottom side of the active region 220 may be on the top side of the photonic crystal 230. Additionally, the bottom side of the upper cladding layer 240 may be on the top side of the active region 220, and the bottom side of the photonic crystal 230 may be on the top side of the lower cladding layer 210.

[0027] Regardless, the upper cladding layer 240 can comprise an n-doped semiconductor material that is electrically conductive and optically transparent to the excitation wavelength. Similarly, the lower cladding layer 210 can comprise a p-doped semiconductor material that is electrically conductive and optically transparent to the excitation wavelength. As a result, the cladding layers 210 and 240 can electrically pump the PCSEL 200 while also allowing the excitation light X to pass through and reach the top side of the RAM substrate 100.

[0028] In some embodiments, the RAM substrate 100 may include a diamond substrate. The diamond substrate may be embedded with nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers. NV centers can provide point defects or lattice vacancies in the diamond lattice structure. These point defects or lattice vacancies exhibit spin-dependent photoluminescence in the presence of a magnetic field. Specifically, when excited by visible green light X (e.g., light with a wavelength of approximately 532 nm (e.g., 532 nm ± 20 nm)), the NV centers can emit red fluorescence F (e.g., light with a wavelength of approximately 750 nm (e.g., 750 nm ± 20 nm)).

[0029] In some embodiments, RAM substrate 100 may comprise a silicon carbide (SiC) substrate. SiC substrates can similarly be embedded with color centers derived from silicon vacancies or other dopants. In the presence of a magnetic field, these color centers within the SiC lattice structure can exhibit spin-dependent photoluminescence. Specifically, when excited by visible red light X (e.g., light with a wavelength of approximately 785 nm (e.g., 785 nm ± 20 nm)), the silicon vacancy color centers can emit fluorescent light F at a wavelength of approximately 919 nm (e.g., 919 nm ± 20 nm).

[0030] As described above, the RAM substrate 100 can provide magnetometer 10 with magnetic sensing capabilities. However, in addition to this sensing capability, the RAM substrate 100 can also act as a heat sink due to its thermal properties. Specifically, these thermal properties can stabilize the temperature, which can help ensure the wavelength stability of the excitation light X emitted from the bottom side of the PCSEL 200 to the top side of the RAM substrate 100.

[0031] While diamond and silicon carbide are presented as examples of resonant atomic media, other crystal structures may be embedded with color centers and may be used as resonant atomic media for the magnetometers disclosed herein. For such embodiments, PCSEL 200 may be configured to generate excitation light X at a wavelength suitable for exciting the photoluminescence of the embedded color centers.

[0032] The upper reflector 250 can reflect the excitation light X toward the bottom side of the PCSEL 200 to the top side of the RAM substrate 100. In addition, the RAM substrate 100 can be transparent to the wavelength of the emitted fluorescence F and the wavelength of the excitation light X, thereby allowing the fluorescence detector 300 to receive and detect the emitted fluorescence F.

[0033] The fluorescence detector 300 can be designed with a narrow passband filter and / or a narrow wavelength detection range. This narrow passband can effectively filter the excitation light X from the emitted fluorescence F. In some embodiments, regardless of the presence of a narrow passband filter, the fluorescence detector 300 can be designed to extract or detect the emitted fluorescence F in the presence of the excitation light X in other ways.

[0034] As depicted, a fluorescence detector 300 can be placed below the RAM substrate 100 to receive the emitted fluorescence F. The fluorescence detector 300 can be designed to detect a wavelength range of interest (e.g., a wavelength range that includes the emitted fluorescence F) and generate a fluorescence measurement signal that indicates the light detected in the wavelength range of interest and the effect of the magnetic field on the emitted fluorescence F. For example, when used with a diamond RAM substrate 100 that emits red fluorescence at approximately 750 nm, the fluorescence detector 300 can be configured to detect the emitted fluorescence F in the wavelength range of 600 nm-800 nm. The fluorescence detector 300 and / or the magnetometer 10 can include an additional filter that allows a narrow range of light to reach the detection element (e.g., a photodiode) of the fluorescence detector 300.

[0035] Now refer to Figure 2 , shows an optical magnetometer 11 including a plurality of PCSELs 200 on the top side of a RAM substrate 100. Figure 1 The optical magnetometer 11 is implemented in a similar manner to the optical magnetometer 10 of FIG. However, due to the presence of multiple PCSELs 200, the optical magnetometer 11 can excite multiple portions of the RAM substrate 100. Therefore, multiple portions of the RAM substrate 100 can supply emitted fluorescence F to the fluorescence detector 300. The fluorescence detector 300 can generate a fluorescence measurement signal based on the emitted fluorescence F from multiple sources. This configuration effectively increases the amount of emitted fluorescence F generated in the presence of a magnetic field, and is similar to the optical magnetometer 11. Figure 1 Compared with the optical magnetometer 10 , the sensitivity and / or accuracy of the optical magnetometer 11 is potentially increased.

[0036] Further Figure 2 As shown, a single p-type contact 260 and / or n-type contact 270 can be shared by multiple PCSELs or coupled to multiple PCSELs 200. This configuration can help reduce the surface area occupied by multiple PCSELs 200. Additionally, this configuration can reduce the number of electrical leads or connections required to electrically pump the PCSELs 200.

[0037] also, Figure 2 A linear arrangement of three PCSELs 200 is depicted. However, the optical magnetometer 11 may be implemented using other arrangements (e.g., PCSELs 200 arranged in a two-dimensional array, PCSELs 200 arranged in a two-dimensional torus, etc.). Furthermore, the optical magnetometer 11 may be implemented using a different number of PCSELs 200 than depicted.

[0038] In some embodiments, all PCSELs 200 can be electrically pumped simultaneously, which can increase the amount of fluorescent light F emitted and the sensitivity of magnetometer 11. However, in some embodiments, PCSELs 200 can be electrically pumped individually, sequentially, etc. This selectivity can allow for reduced power consumption and / or heating of magnetometer 11.

[0039] Now refer to Figure 3 , shows an optical magnetometer 12 including a PCSEL 202 having an optical metasurface 280. Figure 1 The optical magnetometer 12 is implemented in a similar manner to the optical magnetometer 10. However, Figure 1 The PCSEL 200 is different. Figure 3 The PCSEL 202 includes an optical metasurface 280 between the bottom side of the lower cladding layer 210 and the top side of the RAM substrate 100. Typically, the PCSEL emits fairly collimated light. Due to the collimated nature of the emitted excitation light X, Figure 1 The PCSEL 200 can excite a small area of ​​the RAM substrate 100. The optical metasurface 280 of the PCSEL 202 can provide beam shaping of the excitation light X and enable the excitation light X to excite a larger area of ​​the RAM substrate 100. Figure 1 The optical metasurface 280 may increase the sensitivity and / or accuracy of the optical magnetometer 12 compared to the optical magnetometer 10 .

[0040] Now refer to Figure 4 , shows an optical magnetometer 13 including a PCSEL 203 with a grating coupler 285. Figure 1 The optical magnetometer 12 is implemented in a similar manner to the optical magnetometer 10. However, Figure 1 The PCSEL 200 is different. Figure 4 The PCSEL 203 includes a grating coupler 285 between the bottom side of the lower cladding layer 210 and the top side of the RAM substrate 100. As described above, the PCSEL emits fairly collimated light. Due to the collimated nature of the emitted excitation light X, Figure 1 The PCSEL 200 can excite a small area of ​​the RAM substrate 100. The grating coupler 285 can guide and couple the excitation light X of the PCSEL 202 to the RAM substrate 100 at a certain angle.

[0041] The surface of the RAM substrate 100 can be designed to reflect excitation light X having an excitation wavelength (e.g., green), and can be designed to be transparent to emitted fluorescence F having a fluorescence wavelength (e.g., red). As a result, the excitation light X can propagate laterally along the RAM substrate 100 and excite color centers along this path. The emitted fluorescence F can pass through the bottom side of the RAM substrate 100 and reach the fluorescence detector 300. Therefore, the grating coupler 285 can increase the amount of emitted fluorescence F received by the fluorescence detector 30, and thus Figure 1 The sensitivity and / or accuracy of the optical magnetometer 12 may be increased compared to the optical magnetometer 10 .

[0042] Now refer to Figure 5 , shows an optical magnetometer 14 including a PCSEL 204 that emits light into a resonant atomic medium (RAM) layer 400 located above the top side of the PCSEL 204. As shown, the optical magnetometer 14 may include a substrate 101, a PCSEL 204, a fluorescence detector 301, and the RAM layer 400. Typically, the PCSEL 204 emits light having an excitation wavelength X. The excitation light X can be directed toward the RAM layer 400, and color centers embedded in the RAM layer 400 can emit fluorescence F in a manner that depends on or is otherwise indicative of the magnetic field experienced by the RAM layer 400. The fluorescence detector 301 can receive the emitted fluorescence F and generate a fluorescence measurement signal indicative of the detected emitted fluorescence and, therefore, also indicative of the magnetic field experienced by the RAM layer 400. In this manner, the optical magnetometer 14 can detect and / or measure magnetic fields proximate to the optical magnetometer 14.

[0043] The substrate 101 may be Figure 1 201 . Specifically, substrate 100 may include diamond or silicon carbide (SiC) embedded with color centers. However, unlike RAM substrate 100, substrate 101 does not receive the excitation light X from PCSEL 204. Therefore, in some embodiments, substrate 101 may lack color centers and / or may be implemented using other semiconductor or crystalline materials. In some embodiments, substrate 101 may act as a heat sink due to its thermal properties. Specifically, such thermal properties may stabilize the temperature, which can help ensure wavelength stability of the excitation light X emitted from the top side of PCSEL 204 to the bottom side of RAM layer 400.

[0044] As shown, PCSEL 204 can be constructed as a stack of layers on the top side of RAM substrate 101. Specifically, the PCSEL stack can include a lower reflector 252, a lower cladding layer 210, an active region 220, a photonic crystal 230, and an upper cladding layer 240. Specifically, the bottom side of lower reflector 252 can be on the top side of substrate 101, the bottom side of lower cladding layer 210 can be on the top side of lower reflector 252, and the bottom side of active region 220 can be on the top side of lower cladding layer 210. Further, the bottom side of photonic crystal 230 can be on the top side of active region 220, the bottom side of upper cladding layer 240 can be on the top side of photonic crystal 230, and the bottom side of RAM layer 400 can be on the top side of upper cladding layer 240.

[0045] The active region 220, the photonic crystal 230, the cladding layers 210, 240, the contacts 260, 270 and the electrical isolation regions 262, 272 may be arranged in a manner similar to Figure 1 The active region 220, photonic crystal 230, cladding 210, 240, contact 260, 270 and electrical isolation region 262, 272 of the optical magnetometer 10 are implemented in a similar manner. Similarly, the lower reflector 252 can be implemented in a similar manner to Figure 1 The upper reflector 250 is implemented in a similar manner to the upper reflector 252, but is located below the active region 220. Therefore, the lower reflector 252 can reflect the excitation light X toward the RAM layer 400 on the top side of the PCSEL 204. Figure 1 Similar to the RAM substrate 100 , the RAM layer 400 may be transparent to the wavelength of the emitted fluorescent light F and the wavelength of the excitation light X, thereby allowing the fluorescent light detector 301 located above the PCSEL 204 to receive and detect the emitted fluorescent light F.

[0046] As described above, the RAM layer 400 may be configured in the same manner as Figure 1 RAM substrate 100 is implemented in a similar manner. Specifically, RAM layer 400 may include a diamond layer embedded with nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers. NV centers provide point defects or lattice vacancies in the diamond lattice structure, which exhibit spin-dependent photoluminescence in the presence of a magnetic field. Specifically, when excited by visible green light X (e.g., light with a wavelength of approximately 532 nm), the NV centers can emit red fluorescence F (e.g., light with a wavelength of approximately 750 nm).

[0047] In some embodiments, RAM layer 400 may include a silicon carbide (SiC) layer embedded with color centers derived from silicon vacancies or other dopants. In the presence of a magnetic field, these color centers within the SiC lattice structure can exhibit spin-dependent photoluminescence. Specifically, when excited by visible red light X (e.g., light with a wavelength of approximately 785 nm), the silicon vacancy color centers can emit fluorescence F at a wavelength of approximately 919 nm.

[0048] While diamond and silicon carbide are presented as examples of resonant atomic media for RAM layer 400, other crystal structures may be embedded with color centers and may be used as resonant atomic media for the magnetometers disclosed herein. For such embodiments, PCSEL 204 may be configured to generate excitation light X at a wavelength suitable for exciting the photoluminescence of the embedded color centers.

[0049] and Figure 1 Similar to the fluorescence detector 300, the fluorescence detector 301 can be designed with a narrow passband filter and / or a narrow wavelength detection range. This narrow passband can effectively filter the excitation light X from the emitted fluorescence F. In some embodiments, regardless of the presence of a narrow passband filter, in the presence of the excitation light X, the fluorescence detector 301 can be designed to extract or detect the emitted fluorescence F in other ways.

[0050] As depicted, a fluorescence detector 301 can be placed above the PCSEL 204 and the RAM layer 400 and can receive the excitation light X from the PCSEL 204 and the emitted fluorescence F from the RAM layer 400. The fluorescence detector 301 can be designed to detect a wavelength range of interest (e.g., a wavelength range that includes the emitted fluorescence F) and generate a fluorescence measurement signal that indicates the light detected in the wavelength range of interest and the effect of the magnetic field on the emitted fluorescence F. For example, when used with a diamond RAM layer 400 that emits red fluorescence at approximately 750 nm, the fluorescence detector 301 can be configured to detect the emitted fluorescence F in the wavelength range of 600 nm to 800 nm. The fluorescence detector 301 and / or the magnetometer 14 can include an additional filter that allows a narrow range of light to reach the detection element (e.g., a photodiode) of the fluorescence detector 301.

[0051] The present disclosure includes references to specific examples, however, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In addition, the disclosed examples may be modified without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the disclosed magnetometer may include additional components, such as a reference magnet, an electric drive, a power monitor, etc., without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the disclosed examples, but rather the present disclosure will include all examples falling within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A magnetometer, comprising: resonant atomic media, including color centers or other dopants; Photonic crystal surface-emitting lasers; as well as A photodetector is configured to generate a measurement signal indicative of a magnetic field applied to the resonant atomic medium.

2. The magnetometer according to claim 1, wherein The color center or other dopant forms a vacancy that emits fluorescence when excited by excitation light having an excitation wavelength; and The photonic crystal surface emitting laser is configured to generate the excitation light having an excitation wavelength of the vacancy and guide the excitation light to the resonant atomic medium.

3. The magnetometer according to claim 2, wherein: The photonic crystal surface emitting laser includes a plurality of electrical contacts that electrically pump the photonic crystal surface emitting laser to generate the excitation light at the excitation wavelength.

4. The magnetometer according to claim 1, wherein: The resonant atomic medium includes silicon carbide embedded with color centers forming silicon vacancies or other dopants.

5. The magnetometer according to claim 2, wherein: The resonant atomic medium includes silicon carbide embedded with color centers or other dopants forming silicon vacancies; The excitation light has a wavelength of 785 nm; and The emitted fluorescence has a wavelength of 919 nm.

6. The magnetometer according to claim 1, wherein The resonant atomic medium comprises diamond embedded with color centers forming nitrogen-vacancy centers.

7. The magnetometer according to claim 2, wherein: The resonant atomic medium comprises diamond embedded with color centers forming nitrogen vacancy centers; The excitation light has a green wavelength; and The emitted fluorescence has a red wavelength.

8. The magnetometer according to claim 2, wherein: The resonant atomic medium comprises diamond embedded with color centers forming nitrogen vacancy centers; The excitation light has a wavelength of 532 nm; and The emitted fluorescence has a wavelength of 750 nm.

9. The magnetometer according to claim 1, comprising: a substrate comprising the resonant atomic medium; wherein the photonic crystal surface emitting laser is above the top side of the substrate and is configured to direct excitation light to the top side of the substrate; and The light detector is located below the bottom side of the substrate and receives the fluorescent light emitted from the bottom side of the substrate.

10. The magnetometer according to claim 9, wherein: The photonic crystal surface emitting laser includes an upper reflecting mirror that guides the excitation light toward a top side of the substrate.

11. The magnetometer according to claim 1 , comprising: a substrate, including a substrate top side; wherein the resonant atomic medium is on the top side of the photonic crystal surface emitting laser; wherein the photonic crystal surface emitting laser is on the top side of the substrate and is configured to guide the excitation light to the bottom side of the resonant atomic medium; and The light detector is located above the top side of the resonant atomic medium to receive the fluorescence emitted from the top side of the resonant atomic medium.

12. The magnetometer according to claim 11, wherein The photonic crystal surface emitting laser includes a lower reflecting mirror that guides the excitation light toward a bottom side of the resonant atomic medium.

13. The magnetometer according to claim 2, comprising a plurality of photonic crystal surface emitting lasers, wherein: Each photonic crystal surface emitting laser is configured to generate excitation light having an excitation wavelength of the vacancy and guide the excitation light to the resonant atomic medium.

14. The magnetometer according to claim 1, wherein The photonic crystal surface emitting laser includes an optical metasurface that shapes excitation light emitted to the resonant atomic medium.

15. The magnetometer according to claim 1, wherein The photonic crystal surface emitting laser includes a grating coupler that couples the excitation light to the resonant atomic medium at a certain angle; and One or more surfaces of the resonant atomic medium are configured to reflect the excitation light and allow the emitted fluorescent light to pass through.

16. A method for a magnetometer, the method comprising: emitting excitation light from a photonic crystal surface emitting laser into a resonant atomic medium including a color center or other dopant; as well as A measurement signal indicative of the magnetic field applied to the resonant atomic medium is generated using a photodetector.

17. The method according to claim 16, comprising: Exciting lattice vacancies formed by color centers or other dopants of the resonant atomic medium using the emitted excitation light; emitting fluorescence in response to exciting the lattice vacancies, the emitted fluorescence having characteristics that depend on a magnetic field applied to the resonant atomic medium; as well as The measurement signal is generated by means of the light detector based on the emitted fluorescence.

18. The method of claim 17, comprising exciting the lattice vacancies using excitation light from a plurality of photonic crystal surface emitting lasers.

19. The method according to claim 16, wherein The resonant atomic medium includes silicon carbide embedded with color centers forming silicon vacancies or other dopants.

20. The method according to claim 16, wherein The resonant atomic medium comprises diamond embedded with color centers forming nitrogen-vacancy centers.

21. The method of claim 16, comprising emitting the excitation light from a plurality of photonic crystal surface emitting lasers into the resonant atomic medium.

22. The method of claim 16, comprising shaping the excitation light using an optical metasurface.

23. The method of claim 17, comprising: Using a grating coupler to couple the excitation light to the resonant atomic medium at a certain angle; Reflecting the excitation light using one or more surfaces of the resonant atomic medium; as well as The emitted fluorescent light is allowed to pass through at least one of the one or more surfaces.

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