OSCAR-QLITE (2017-2019)

About the project

OSCAR-QLITE stands for Optical Sensors based on CARbon materials: Quantum Lightweight ITEration. It was a first attempt at an integrated and miniaturized diamond-based quantum magnetometer with custom developed electronics. Following a proposal submitted in the autumn of 2017, the project underwent development and reviews throughout 2018, culminating in a flight on October 17, 2018 and post-flight close-out into 2019.

OSCAR-QLITE concentrated almost completely on quantum magnetometry. The solar-cell experiment, used with OSCAR-BEXUS, was no longer part of the main payload and the focus was put fully on integrated quantum magnetometry.

Goals

The goal here was to improve the first OSCAR’s bulky commercial setup with more easily miniaturised in-house developed hardware. To tackle the in-house development requirements, our student team structured the approach around multidisciplinary division of labor and design simplification to completely pivot the architecture of the system. Our science team focused on optimizing the NV-diamond and the utilisation of them so our electronics and software engineers could develop custom PCB layouts to handle the requirements. Meanwhile our mechanical team made a downsized housing and physical anchoring of the payload inside the BEXUS balloon gondola.

Results

The team passed the complete REXUS/BEXUS review sequence and completed a successful BEXUS 26 flight. The project demonstrated the potential to miniaturise the magnetometer and established the hardware and expertise later used for OSCAR-QUBE. OSCAR-QLITE is the technical bridge between a balloon feasibility experiment and a fully integrated orbital instrument. This mission also laid the foundation and built hand-on experience for a future long-duration integrated sensor.