[tt] advanced nanotechnology - Ultrasensitive prototype device approaches gold standard for magnetic field detection
Eugen Leitl
<eugen at leitl.org> on
Sun Nov 4 11:50:17 UTC 2007
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To: eugen <eugen at leitl.org>
Subject: advanced nanotechnology - Ultrasensitive prototype device approaches gold standard for magnetic field detection
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"[2]advanced nanotechnology" - 1 new article
1. [3]Ultrasensitive prototype device approaches gold standard for
magnetic field detection
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[6]Ultrasensitive prototype device approaches gold standard for magnetic
field detection
[7]A tiny sensor that can detect magnetic field changes as small as 70
femtoteslas-equivalent to the brain waves of a person daydreaming-has
been demonstrated at the National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST). The sensor could be battery-operated and could
reduce the costs of non-invasive biomagnetic measurements such as
fetal heart monitoring. The device also may have applications such as
homeland security screening for explosives.
Described in the November issue of Nature Photonics,* the prototype
device is almost 1000 times more sensitive than NIST's original
chip-scale magnetometer demonstrated in 2004 and is based on a
different operating principle. Its performance puts it within reach
of matching the current gold standard for magnetic sensors,
so-called superconducting quantum interference devices or SQUIDs.
These devices can sense changes in the 3- to 40-femtotesla range
but must be cooled to very low (cryogenic) temperatures, making
them much larger, power hungry, and more expensive.
The NIST prototype consists of a single low-power (milliwatt)
infrared laser and a rice-grain-sized container with dimensions of
3 by 2 by 1 millimeters. The container holds about 100 billion
rubidium atoms in gas form. As the laser beam passes through the
atomic vapor, scientists measure the transmitted optical power
while varying the strength of a magnetic field applied
perpendicular to the beam. The amount of laser light absorbed by
the atoms varies predictably with the magnetic field, providing a
reference scale for measuring the field. The stronger the magnetic
field, the more light is absorbed.
The new NIST mini-sensor could reduce the equipment size and costs
associated with some non-invasive biomedical tests. (The body's
electrical signals that make the heart contract or brain cells fire
also simultaneously generate a magnetic field.) The NIST group and
collaborators have used a modified version of the original sensor
to detect magnetic signals from a mouse heart.** The new sensor is
already powerful enough for fetal heart monitoring; with further
work, the sensitivity can likely be improved to a level in the 10
femtotesla range, sufficient for additional applications such as
measuring brain activity, the designers say.
To make a complete portable magnetometer, the laser and vapor cell
would need to be packaged with miniature optics and a light
detector. The vapor cell can be fabricated and assembled on
semiconductor wafers using existing techniques for making
microelectronics and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). This
design, adapted from a previously developed NIST chip-scale atomic
clock, offers the potential for low-cost mass production.
[8]New Scientist also has coverage
It is not just much smaller than a SQUID, but also operates at much
higher temperatures, at around 150 °C. Currently the complete
device is a few millimetres on each side. "The small size and high
performance of this sensor will open doors to applications that we
could previously only dream of," Kitching says.
Kitching and colleagues made the new magnetometers through
photolithography, the same process used to make computer chips.
"You can make very large numbers of the devices in parallel on a
single wafer [of silicon]," Kitching says. "That will reduce the
cost."
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