Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Quantum sensors are often specified by a headline sensitivity, yet applications also demand accuracy and reliability. The dominant limiter of one metric is often known, but no method resolves how interacting mechanisms combine into a signed, per-mechanism budget for each metric. We introduce a framework that computes a sensor's sensitivity, accuracy, and robustness from one open-system simulation and attributes each to its limiting mechanism. For a nitrogen-vacancy diamond ensemble the attributioninverts across metrics: dephasing limits sensitivity, the thermal ground-state shift limits accuracy, and optical leakage limits robustness. At identical sensitivity the recovered-field bias spans 8 to 1500 nT so tuning to sensitivity alone can miss the accuracy target by two orders of magnitude. The same modeling transfers to a cesium optically pumped magnetometer recording a human magnetocardiogram. Acting as a digital twin, it predicts the gain from addressing each limiter, so sensors can be designed to the required metrics.
Source: Research Square
Institutions: Mitre (United States), Nvidia (United States), SandboxAQ
Language: English
Subfield: Materials Chemistry
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: Nvidia
OpenAlex ID: W7204751707