SBIR Phase I: Low Cost Sensitive Magnetometer for Remote Sensing

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project proposes to develop a new type of low cost, low power, fast and small magnetometer that could attain a sensitivity of approximately 1 femto Tesla (10-15 T) per root hertz. Magnetometers with such sensitivity could easily be used for remote sensing by measuring and locating the source of magnetic fields. These fields are typically one billion times smaller than the earth's magnetic field. This new magnetometer could be in a small (SO8, ~5x4x2mm3), low power instrument package operating at ambient temperature. Such sensitivity currently requires costly superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) that needs expensive and cumbersome cryogenics to operate. In Phase I, MST hopes to quantify the performance gains possible from this new magnetometer and its measurement of magnetic field and noise in operational contexts for remote sensing. The development of low cost, high performance, modular, miniature magnetometer delivery systems will expand the commercial markets for home and industrial security systems, industrial process monitoring systems, and environmental monitoring systems. The magnetometer would also augment the capability to detect submarines by using an array seeded around narrow traffic lanes. It could find use in detecting land and naval mines, and in making sensitive proximity fuses. Commercial uses include prospecting for mineral deposits, nondestructive testing, and research in geomagnetic and biomagnetic studies.