NV-Center Magnetometry for Infrastructure Inspection: Metal Loss, Defect Contrast, and Practical Readout

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Abstract 

Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond offer an optical route to magnetic sensing for nondestructive inspection. Drawing on our recent review of quantum magnetometers for infrastructure monitoring, this talk connects the origin of magnetic signatures in metallic structures with the requirements of the sensing head and readout.

We present preliminary FIU measurements of field-dependent photoluminescence, spatial optical contrast around metal cutouts, and an initial microwave-frequency-dependent fluorescence feature. The results motivate further investigation while emphasizing the need to separate magnetic response from optical alignment, illumination, and specimen-geometry effects.

We then discuss packaging priorities: stable excitation and collection, controlled sensor-to-sample distance, position tracking, and environmental logging. The talk concludes with a validation path based on repeatability, intact reference specimens, known defect geometries, and comparison with conventional sensing in the same measurement arrangement.

Speaker Bio

Aleksandr (Alex) Krasnok is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering at Florida International University (FIU) with a courtesy appointment in the Knight Foundation School of Computing and Information Sciences (KFSCIS).

He directs the Quantum Technology & Metamaterials (QTM) Laboratory. His group studies and engineers light–matter interactions from radio frequencies to the optical domain, with emphases on complex-frequency electrodynamics, quantum photonics and interfaces, error-resilient quantum control, and metasurfaces & sensing—bridging fundamental physics to deployable devices for sensing, communication, and computation.