Meet OSCAR QLITE !

One year after the successful stratospheric flight of OSCAR BEXUS23, a new, progressed idea of the diamond based magnetometer will be developed during the REXUS/BEXUS programme BEXUS26: OSCAR-QLITE.

This is an acronym for Optical Sensors based on CARbon materials: Quantum Lightweight ITEration. With a brand new team of seven enthusiastic UHasselt students, we will concentrate us on the development, miniaturization and testing of an electrical diamond based magnetometer.

So here we present the one and only OSCAR-QLITE team with Jarda (team leader), Goele (science), Lasse (software), Tom and Dylan (electronics) and Kirian and Michiel (mechanics). Together with our endorsing professor Milos Nesladek we signed the letter of acceptance, the official start of the REXUS/BEXUS programme for OSCAR-QLITE.

(From left to right: endorsing professor Milos Nesladek, Jarda, Lasse, Goele, Tom, Kirian, Michiel and Dylan)

With this diverse team we aim to develop and test a diamond based magnetometer. Because of its ultrasensitivity and small dimensions, this magnetometer can be a step forward on various domains as space weather and communication. For example by using an ultrasensitive magnetometer, very weak magnetic fields can be measured in space, which may lead to the discovery of unknown celestial bodies. Even in biomedical devices relying on magnetometry, like MRI, it can be of huge advantages. Ultimately, when having enough sensitivity, brain waves could be observed.

But these improvements don’t seem to directly influence daily life, do they? There are some applications which surely can. Navigation systems, like GPS might gain more precision thanks to ultrasensitive measurements of the magnetic fields in space.

These and even more applications of diamond based magnetometry are very promising. Therefore, in course of this project, we want to reach sub-nanotesla sensitivity on a device with size of a matchbox.

Next week we will leave for the Student Training Week at Esrange in Kiruna. So if you want to see more, stay tuned and follow our experiences on this blog and on our Facebook page!