Exploring the spin dynamics of a room-temperature diamond maser using an extended rate equation model

Abstract

Masers—the microwave analog of lasers—are coherent microwave sources that can act as oscillators or quantum-limited amplifiers. Masers have historically required high vacuum and cryogenic temperatures to operate, but recently, masers based on diamond have been demonstrated to operate at room temperature and pressure, opening a route to new applications as ultra-low noise microwave amplifiers. For these new applications to become feasible at a mass scale, it is important to optimize diamond masers by minimizing their size and maximizing the power of signals that can be amplified. Here, we develop and numerically solve an extended rate equation model to present a detailed phenomenology of masing dynamics and determine the optimal properties required for the copper cavity, dielectric resonator, and gain medium in order to develop portable maser devices. We conclude by suggesting how the material parameters of the diamond gain media and dielectric resonators used in diamond masers can be optimized, and how rate equation models could be further developed to incorporate the effects of temperature and nitrogen concentration on spin lifetimes.