US 12,480,876 B2
Quantum sensor
Mohammad Sadegh Ebrahimi, Lörrach (DE); Gerd Bechtel, Steinen (DE); Raphael Kuhnen, Schliengen (DE); Tobias Brengartner, Emmendingen (DE); Dietmar Frühauf, Lörrach (DE); and Anh Tuan Tham, Berlin (DE)
Assigned to Endress+Hauser SE+Co. KG, Maulburg (DE)
Appl. No. 18/245,492
Filed by Endress+Hauser SE+Co. KG, Maulburg (DE)
PCT Filed Aug. 30, 2021, PCT No. PCT/EP2021/073825
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Mar. 15, 2023,
PCT Pub. No. WO2022/058141, PCT Pub. Date Mar. 24, 2022.
Claims priority of application No. 10 2020 123 993.9 (DE), filed on Sep. 15, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0341327 A1, Oct. 26, 2023
Int. Cl. G01N 21/64 (2006.01); G01N 21/95 (2006.01); G01N 33/00 (2006.01)
CPC G01N 21/645 (2013.01) [G01N 21/95 (2013.01); G01N 33/39 (2024.05); G01N 2201/08 (2013.01)] 19 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A sensor apparatus for determining and/or monitoring a process variable of a medium capable of filling a containment to a plurality of different fill levels, the sensor apparatus comprising:
a crystal body including at least one defect;
a magnetic field system configured to generate a magnetic field in a region of the crystal body, and in a region of the medium capable of filling the containment to the plurality of different fill levels, within the containment, wherein the crystal body and the magnetic field system are respectively configured as to be arranged at a wall of the containment from the outside;
a detection unit configured to detect a magnetic field-dependent fluorescence signal emitted from the crystal body in a manner dependent upon the magnetic field, wherein the detection unit comprises an excitation unit configured to optical excite the at least one defect of the crystal and comprises a detector configured to detect the fluorescence signal; and
an evaluation unit configured to determine at least one piece of information about the process variable of the medium capable of filling the containment to the plurality of different fill levels, based on the fluorescence signal; and
wherein the process variable includes a fill level of the medium, and the magnetic field in the region of the medium is dependent on a change to the fill level.