Quantum Magnetometers for Infrastructure Inspection and Monitoring

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Hasan, Muhammad Mahmudul, Torres, Ingrid, Krasnok, Alex
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2026
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author Hasan, Muhammad Mahmudul
Torres, Ingrid
Krasnok, Alex
author_facet Hasan, Muhammad Mahmudul
Torres, Ingrid
Krasnok, Alex
contents Damage in infrastructure is often hidden until it becomes costly or dangerous. Common examples include corrosion under insulation, early fatigue damage in steel, corrosion of embedded reinforcement, and abnormal current flow in batteries and power equipment. Magnetic methods are attractive because they can sense through coatings, insulation, and concrete cover without couplants, but field performance is often limited by lift-off, low-frequency drift, background magnetic noise, and the weak low-frequency response of pickup coils. This review examines two room-temperature quantum receiver platforms: optically pumped atomic magnetometers (OPMs) and nitrogen-vacancy (NV) diamond magnetometers. Rather than treating them as stand-alone sensors, we compare them as parts of a full measurement chain that includes source physics, geometry, readout, calibration, and interpretation. The literature is organized into four magnetic signal classes: driven induction responses, leakage fields in magnetic flux leakage inspection, passive self-fields linked to stress or corrosion, and fields produced by operational currents. OPMs are strongest for low-frequency, phase-referenced induction measurements, while NV sensors are strongest for near-surface field mapping, vector or gradient measurements, and differential current sensing in compact solid-state heads. Across all applications, deployment depends less on best-case sensitivity than on usable bandwidth, dynamic range, background rejection, geometry control, calibration, and validation. The clearest path to field use is therefore robust instrument engineering tied to qualification methods that reflect real inspection conditions.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_03288
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Quantum Magnetometers for Infrastructure Inspection and Monitoring
Hasan, Muhammad Mahmudul
Torres, Ingrid
Krasnok, Alex
Applied Physics
Instrumentation and Detectors
Optics
Quantum Physics
Damage in infrastructure is often hidden until it becomes costly or dangerous. Common examples include corrosion under insulation, early fatigue damage in steel, corrosion of embedded reinforcement, and abnormal current flow in batteries and power equipment. Magnetic methods are attractive because they can sense through coatings, insulation, and concrete cover without couplants, but field performance is often limited by lift-off, low-frequency drift, background magnetic noise, and the weak low-frequency response of pickup coils. This review examines two room-temperature quantum receiver platforms: optically pumped atomic magnetometers (OPMs) and nitrogen-vacancy (NV) diamond magnetometers. Rather than treating them as stand-alone sensors, we compare them as parts of a full measurement chain that includes source physics, geometry, readout, calibration, and interpretation. The literature is organized into four magnetic signal classes: driven induction responses, leakage fields in magnetic flux leakage inspection, passive self-fields linked to stress or corrosion, and fields produced by operational currents. OPMs are strongest for low-frequency, phase-referenced induction measurements, while NV sensors are strongest for near-surface field mapping, vector or gradient measurements, and differential current sensing in compact solid-state heads. Across all applications, deployment depends less on best-case sensitivity than on usable bandwidth, dynamic range, background rejection, geometry control, calibration, and validation. The clearest path to field use is therefore robust instrument engineering tied to qualification methods that reflect real inspection conditions.
title Quantum Magnetometers for Infrastructure Inspection and Monitoring
topic Applied Physics
Instrumentation and Detectors
Optics
Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.03288