Kutztown University’s Dr. Kunal Das, professor of physics, earned a historic patent in 2022 for his invention of a new method for precision detection and sensing of rotation and magnetic fields. Now, Das has received a second, continuation patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office to continue his work and progress into the application and implementation of his algorithm.
This mark’s Das’ second career patent, with his initial 2022 patent marking the first documented at the university since the early 2000s.
Das’ initial invention took a completely new approach for conducting precision sensing of both rotation and of magnetic fields. Until now, the state-of-the-art technology for extremely sensitive measurement of rotation and magnetic fields has relied upon the principle of wave interference, such as SQUID (Superconducting Quantum Interference Device). Das’ first patent developed and utilized a very different phenomenon called localization.
The latest patent will allow Das to build upon the statistical ideas from his algorithm and pursue applications, including potential opportunities with companies to develop novel rotation and field sensors.
Das has been awarded five National Science Foundation (NSF) grants amounting to nearly $900,000 in research funding. He has mentored more than 50 students in research, with many of them being co-authors in his peer-reviewed publications. He is a theoretical physicist working in the realm of quantum physics. His research has been driven by his deep interest in understanding the puzzling and highly non-intuitive foundations of quantum theory. It has been recognized in recent years that quantum mechanics will play an increasingly crucial role in the technology of the 21st century, with broad applications that will transcend limits imposed by traditional physics methodology.
For rotation sensing, either light or material particles with mass can be the active medium, while for magnetometry, the active medium must carry electric charge. The light should be coherent, such as from a laser, while material particles could be atoms, molecules, electrons, ions or other entities. Das’ invention employs a localization transition, whereby the medium becomes localized (more spatially concentrated) or extended (spread out), with the degree of localization sensitive to the rotation or to the presence of a magnetic field.
An essential difference between Das’ initial patent and prior research is that interferometry does not play a role as it does with all high precision rotation sensors and sensitive magnetometers. Objective measure based on a statistical quantity called the Fisher Information shows that this invention can have significantly enhanced sensitivity compared to methods currently employed.
Learn more about KU’s Department of Physics.