We report the realization of coupling-independent, robust wireless sensing of fully-passive resistive sensors. PT-symmetric operation obviates sweeping, permitting real-time, single-point sensing. Self-oscillation is achieved through a fast-settling nonlinearity whose voltage amplitude is proportional to the sensors resistance. These advances markedly simplify the reader. A dual time-scale theoretical framework generalizes system analysis to arbitrary operating conditions and a correction strategy reduces errors due to detuning from PT-symmetric conditions by an order of magnitude.
Having accurate gate generation is essential for precise control of a quantum system. The generated gate usually suffers from linear and nonlinear distortion. Previous works have demonstrated how to use a qubit to correct linear frequency distortions but have not commented on how to handle nonlinear distortions. This is an important issue as we show that nonlinear amplitude distortions from the RF electronics can affect Rabi pulses by as much as 10%. We present work that demonstrates how a transmon qubit can be used as a highly sensitive cryogenic detector to characterize these nonlinear amplitude distortions. We show that a correction can drive these errors down to <1% over a 700 MHz range. This correction technique provides a method to minimize the effects of signal distortions and can be easily applied to broadband control pulses to produce higher fidelity arbitrary quantum gates.
Internet of Things (IoT) employs a large number of spatially distributed wireless sen-sors to monitor physical environments, e.g., temperature, humidity, and air pressure, have found wide applications including environmental monitoring, health care monitoring, smart cities and precision agriculture. A wireless sensor can collect, analyze, and transmit measurements of its environment. To date, wireless sensors used in IoT are predominately based on electronic devices that may suffer from electromagnetic interference in many circumstances. Immune to the electromagnetic interference, optical sensors provide a significant advantage in harsh environments. Furthermore, by introducing optical resonance to enhanced light-matter interactions, optical sensors based on resonators exhibit small footprints, extreme sensitivity and versatile functionalities, which can signifi-cantly enhance the capability and flexibility of wireless sensors. Here we provide the first demonstration of a wireless photonic sensor node based on whispering-gallery-mode (WGM) optical resonators. The sensor node is controlled via a customized iOS app. Its per-formance was studied in two practical scenarios: (1) real-time measurement of air tempera-ture over 12 hours and (2) aerial mapping of temperature distribution by a sensor node mounted on an unmanned drone. Our work demonstrates the capability of WGM optical sensors in practical applications and may pave the way for large-scale deployments of WGM sensors in IoT.
Electron tomography has achieved higher resolution and quality at reduced doses with recent advances in compressed sensing. Compressed sensing (CS) theory exploits the inherent sparse signal structure to efficiently reconstruct three-dimensional (3D) volumes at the nanoscale from undersampled measurements. However, the process bottlenecks 3D reconstruction with computation times that run from hours to days. Here we demonstrate a framework for dynamic compressed sensing that produces a 3D specimen structure that updates in real-time as new specimen projections are collected. Researchers can begin interpreting 3D specimens as data is collected to facilitate high-throughput and interactive analysis. Using scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), we show that dynamic compressed sensing accelerates the convergence speed by 3-fold while also reducing its error by 27% for an Au/SrTiO3 nanoparticle specimen. Before a tomography experiment is completed, the 3D tomogram has interpretable structure within 33% of completion and fine details are visible as early as 66%. Upon completion of an experiment, a high-fidelity 3D visualization is produced without further delay. Additionally, reconstruction parameters that tune data fidelity can be manipulated throughout the computation without rerunning the entire process.
Standard exceptional points (EPs) are non-Hermitian degeneracies that occur in open systems. At an EP, the Taylor series expansion becomes singular and fails to converge -- a feature that was exploited for several applications. Here, we theoretically introduce and experimentally demonstrate a new class of parity-time symmetric systems [implemented using radio frequency (rf) circuits] that combine EPs with another type of mathematical singularity associated with the poles of complex functions. These nearly divergent exceptional points can exhibit an unprecedentedly large eigenvalue bifurcation beyond those obtained by standard EPs. Our results pave the way for building a new generation of telemetering and sensing devices with superior performance.
While wired-power-transfer devices ensure robust power delivery even if the receiver position or load impedance changes, achieving the robustness of wireless power transfer (WPT) is challenging. Conventional solutions are based on additional control circuits for dynamic tuning. Here, we propose a robust WPT system in which no additional tuning circuitry is required for robust operation. This is achieved by our systematically designing the load and the coupling link to be parts of the feedback circuit. Therefore, the WPT operation is automatically adjusted to the optimal working condition under a wide range of load and receiver positions. In addition, pulsed oscillations instead of single-harmonic oscillation are adopted to increase the overall efficiency. An example system is designed with the use of a capacitive coupling link. It realizes a virtual, nearly-ideal oscillating voltage source at the load site, giving efficient power transfer comparable to that of the ideal wired-connection scenario. We numerically and experimentally verify the robustness of the WPT system under the variations of load and coupling, where coupling is changing by our varying the alignment of aluminum plates. The working frequency and the transferred power agree well with analytical models. The proposed paradigm can have a significant impact on future high-performance WPT devices. The designed system can also work as a smart table supporting multiple receivers with robust and efficient operation.