High-sensitivity Magnetic Field Sensor Research Articles

Dual-Channel High-Sensitivity Temperature and Magnetic Field Sensor Based on Mach–Zehnder Interference and Surface Plasmon Resonance

Dual-Channel High-Sensitivity Temperature and Magnetic Field Sensor Based on Mach–Zehnder Interference and Surface Plasmon Resonance

Ultra-sensitive axial strain and magnetic field sensor based on three reflection surface interference and harmonic vernier effect

A high-sensitivity fiber optic strain and magnetic field (MF) sensor is designed by two Fabry-Perot interferometers (FPI) cascading and harmonic Vernier effect. Two cascaded FPIs consist of an intrinsic FPI1 and an extrinsic FPI2. FPI1 is fabricated by femtosecond laser pulse ablation on the single-mode fiber core. Then, FPI1 and another single-mode fiber are inserted into a quartz capillary from both sides to form FPI2. By adjusting the cavity length of FPI2, the cascaded FPI1 and FPI2 can form a harmonic Vernier effect sensor. Due to FPI1 being a cantilever beam, it is not subjected to axial strain. The strain of the sensor acts on a longer capillary, resulting in an extension of the effective length of the strain and a many fold increase in the strain sensitivity of the sensor. Due to the compact cascading of FPI1 and FPI2, this strain sensor has a very small structural size. The sensor average strain sensitivity obtained from the experiment reached 260.05 pm/με. Due to the extremely high axial strain sensitivity of this strain sensor, adhering it to the magnetostrictive material results in the average MF sensitivity of 6.82 nm/mT, and the minimum MF intensity detected by the MF sensor is 0.1 mT. The temperature crosstalk of the MF sensor is 0.3 mT/°C.

High Sensitivity Magnetic Field Sensor Based on Magneto-Optical Surface Plasmon Resonance

High Sensitivity Magnetic Field Sensor Based on Magneto-Optical Surface Plasmon Resonance

High-sensitivity vector magnetic field sensor based on a V-shaped multimode-no-core-multimode fiber structure.

This work proposes and investigates a bent multimode-no-core-multimode optical fiber structure for vector magnetic field sensing applications. The bent no-core fiber (NCF) serves as the sensing area, and the gold film is deposited on its surface to excite the surface plasmon resonance effect. Due to the strong evanescent field of the unclad and bent NCF, the as-fabricated sensor exhibits a high sensitivity of 5630 nm/RIU in the refractive index range of 1.36-1.39. Magnetic fluid is employed as the magneto-sensitive material for magnetic field sensing, exhibiting a high magnetic field intensity sensitivity of 5.74 nm/mT and a high magnetic field direction sensitivity of 0.22 nm/°. The proposed sensor features a simple structure, low cost, point sensing, and excellent mechanical performance.

Magnetic field-to-voltage coefficient evaluation of axial SQUID gradiometer in unshielded environment

Due to the existence of earth magnetic field, it is difficult to detect weak magnetic field from some parts of the body like heart, muscle, nerve and so on. In addition to the requirement for high-sensitivity magnetic field sensors, it is also essential to take certain measures to suppress noise. The axial gradiometer based on low-Tc Superconducting QUantum Interference Device (SQUID) can achieve a noise suppression ratio of 30 dB through the spatial gradient difference of the magnetic field, but the calibration of the magnetic field-to-voltage coefficient (B-V coefficient) generally requires a magnetically shielded room (MSR), which is complex and costly. With finite element simulation and practical experiments, a calibration method for B-V coefficient of the axial hardware gradiometer without shielding was presented in this paper. That is, a larger calibration field was generated for coefficient evaluation in an unshielded environment. At the same time, when the test signal was far away, the spatial gradient difference was used to improve the authenticity of the evaluation results. Through simulation and experimental verification, for the same performance and configuration of the gradiometer, the calibration result was 1.6 nT/V with 0.1 nT/V difference from that in a shielding room. The results showed that the unshielded evaluation method proposed in this paper was practical and could be used to evaluate the B-V coefficient of gradiometer.

Surface acoustic wave-spin wave coupling and magneto-acoustic nonreciprocal devices

Surface acoustic wave (SAW) is a new means of exciting and controlling spin wave (SW), which has not only high excitation efficiency, but also long transmission length up to millimeter order. Based on the SAW-SW coupling (phonon-magnon coupling), a wide variety of new devices and applications such as high-sensitivity weak magnetic field sensors, energy-efficient spintronic devices, solid-state acoustic isolators, and nonreciprocal phase shifters, have been realized. Therefore, it is of great value to study the physical mechanism of magneto-acoustic coupling, develop new magneto-acoustic coupling effects, and improve the efficiency of magneto-acoustic coupling. In this work, different types of physical mechanisms of magneto-acoustic coupling are reviewed. The effective driven magnetic fields of magnetoelastic coupling, spin-vorticity coupling (including injection of alternating spin current from a non-magnetic layer and Barnett effect inside magnetic material itself), and magneto-rotation coupling under different modes of SAW excitation are compared. The angular dependence of these driven fields and the frequency dependence of the corresponding power absorption are discussed, which provides theoretical support for distinguishing and utilizing various magneto-acoustic coupling in practical applications. In addition, we also introduce two methods to realize nonreciprocal SAW transmission by magneto-acoustic coupling, including the helicity mismatch effect and nonreciprocal spin-wave dispersion magnetic structures, and discuss their physical mechanisms as well as advantages and disadvantages. For such magneto-acoustic nonreciprocal devices, the properties of higher isolation, lower insertion loss and wider bandwidth are always desired. In order to improve the properties of the devices, it is important to find magnetic structures with stronger SW nonreciprocity, reduce the insertion loss introduced by magnetic structure, and fully consider the effective driven field characteristics of different modes of SAW. We hope that this review can serve as a guide for future design and development of solid acoustic isolators and circulators in the RF and microwave frequency bands.

High-sensitivity and directional-identification fiber magnetic field sensor via polarimetric fiber ring laser with a fiber Faraday rotator

A highly sensitive fiber magnetic field sensor with directional identification utilizing multi-longitudinal-mode fiber ring laser (FRL) based on polarization-mode beat frequency (PMBF) is experimentally demonstrated. A bismuth-doped iron garnet (BIG), as a kind of fiber Faraday rotator, is embedded in the FRL and serves as a fiber magnetic field probe, whose birefringence shows strong dependence on the external magnetic field due to magneto-optical Faraday effect, leading to the frequency drift of PMBF. Thus, the external magnetic field can be characterized by monitoring the change in a certain PMBF. Additionally, the drift direction of the tracked PMBF is closely related to the applied magnetic field direction, which is attributed to the non-reciprocity of Faraday magneto-optical rotation. Therefore, it shows the good ability to distinguish the applied forward (positive) and reverse (negative) magnetic field. The experimental results reveal that the tracked PMBF signal near 100 MHz has opposite frequency drift signs in the forward (positive) range of 0–20 mT and reverse (negative) range of 0 - −20 mT, which can be used to identify the axial orientation of the applied magnetic field. Additionally, it shows the maximum magnetic field sensitivities of −100.76 and −105.73 kHz/mT in the positive and negative magnetic field ranges, respectively. The designed device makes full use of the advantages of the fiber laser that rapidly demodulates the magnetic field with the help of high-speed digital processing technology, as well as fast response, high integration and low cost of fiber Faraday rotator, offering potentials in high-sensitivity magnetic field measurement in a confined space.

2D-Vector Magnetic Sensing Based on Ring-Shaped Fiber-Optic Structure Coated with Magnetic Fluid.

In this work, a novel fiber-optic sensor for 2D magnetic sensing is explored based on nanostructured magnetic fluid. The fiber-optic sensor comprises a ring-shaped fiber structure that is coated with magnetic fluid. The unique magneto-optical characteristic of the nanostructured magnetic fluid enables the fiber-optic structure to detect magnetic fields. By utilizing the 3D Monte Carlo method, the magneto-optical characteristic induced by the nanostructure changes in the magnetic fluid was analyzed. The sensor can realize 2D vector magnetic sensing by intensity demodulation and achieves a sensitivity of 2.402 dB/mT. The proposed fiber optic sensor helps in developing a high-sensitivity 2D vector magnetic field sensor, which has potential applications in the fields of navigation, electrical power systems, and biological detection.

Ultrasensitive magnetic field sensor based on cladding-etched long-period grating.

We demonstrate a high-sensitivity fiber-optic magnetic field sensor, which consists of a cladding-etched long-period fiber grating (LPFG) near the dispersion turning point (DTP) integrated with a magnetic fluid (MF). By reducing the cladding diameter of the LPFG, the fundamental mode is coupled to the lowest order cladding mode (LP0,2) near the DTP, which has a much higher surrounding refractive index sensitivity. Thanks to the excellent magneto-optical characteristics of the MF, the proposed sensor can achieve a magnetic field intensity sensitivity of 44.69 nm/mT in the range of 3-7.4 mT. The minimum magnetic field intensity that can be detected is 0.45 µT due to the 0.02-nm wavelength resolution of the optical spectrum analyzer. The proposed etched DTP-LPFG-based sensor with ultrahigh magnetic field sensitivity could have potential applications in magnetic fields and electrical systems.

A high-sensitivity magnetic field sensor using spindly optical fiber taper

In this paper, a high-sensitivity magnetic field sensor is proposed. The sensor consists of a spindly optical fiber taper (SOFT) coated with magnetic fluid. The SOFT structure is made through fusing taper method and connected to a fiber loop for magnetic field sensing. The experiment results show that the sensor is barely dependent on laser wavelength within the range of 1520 nm to 1575 nm. When the magnetic field of 180 Oe is applied, the transmission change reaches up to 3.324 dB at 1550 nm. Additionally, the magnetic field sensitivity of the sensor is −23.4μs/Oe in the linear region of 10 Oe−80 Oe. Compared with the traditional fiber optic magnetic field sensor with the fiber loop ring-down (FLRD), the proposed SOFT sensor could achieve higher magnetic field sensitivity.

High sensitivity magnetic field sensor based on hybrid fiber interferometer

This paper presents and demonstrates an ultra-sensitive magnetic field sensor using a hybrid interferometer. The sensor is created by combining a Sagnac loop interferometer (SI) and a Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI). The difference in the free spectrum ranges of the two cavities generates a Vernier effect, which amplifies the sensitivity. Experimental results indicate that the sensitivity of the single FP cavity is 25 pm/mT, while the sensitivity of the hybrid sensor is 811.53 pm/mT, which is about 32 times higher than that of a single individual FPI. The sensor can be applied in harsh environment such as mine, oil well and other fields.

High-sensitivity optical fiber magnetic field sensor based on multimode optical fiber multi Fabry-Perot interference cavities.

A high-sensitivity optical fiber magnetic field sensor based on a multi-Fabry-Perot interference (F-P) cavity in an etched multimode optical fiber (MMF) was proposed. The MMF was etched along the fiber axis and a hole with the length of about 250 µm formed in the MMF. The multi-F-P cavity in the MMF is a sandwich structure, which is composed of UV glue, magnetic fluid and UV glue. The refractive index and effective cavity length of the magnetic fluid cavity change with the changing of the external magnetic field, which will result in changes of the reflection spectra of the multi-F-P. Thus, the external magnetic field could be detected by the changes of spectra. Experimental results showed that the high magnetic field sensitivity of 299.7 pm/mT and 0.164 dB/mT were obtained in the range of 0∼8 mT weak magnetic induction intensity by using the wavelength and intensity demodulations, respectively. The proposed sensor shows the potential applications in the magnetic field measurement in the weak magnetic environment.

Submicrometer-scale temperature sensing using quantum coherence of a superconducting qubit

Interest is growing in the development of quantum sensing based on the principles of quantum mechanics, such as discrete energy levels, quantum superposition, and quantum entanglement. Superconducting flux qubits are quantum two-level systems whose energy is sensitive to a magnetic field. Therefore, they can be used as high-sensitivity magnetic field sensors that detect the magnetization of a spin ensemble. Since the magnetization depends on temperature and the magnetic field, the temperature can be determined by measuring the magnetization using the flux qubit. In this study, we demonstrated highly sensitive temperature sensing with high spatial resolution as an application of a magnetic field sensor using the quantum coherence of a superconducting flux qubit. By using a superconducting flux qubit to detect the temperature dependence of the polarization ratio of electron spins in nano-diamond particles, we succeeded in measuring the temperature with a sensitivity of 1.3 µKµ at T = 9.1 mK in the submicrometer range.

Magnetic field sensor based on resonant cavity dispersion-frequency mapping of a multi-longitudinal mode fiber laser.

A high-sensitivity and compact-size magnetic field sensor based on a multi-longitudinal mode fiber laser is proposed and experimentally demonstrated in this paper. The resonant cavity is composed of two uniform fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) and a length of Er-doped fiber. A Terfenol-D rod is used as a transducer to stretch the sensing FBG when applying an external magnetic field. Longitudinal mode beat frequency could be generated in the laser and would shift with the deformation of the sensing FBG caused by the external magnetic field. Experimental results show the sensitivity of the proposed sensor is -47.32k H z/m T.

Magnetic Field Sensing Using Tapered Small-Core Optical Fibre Surrounded by Different Concentrations of Magnetic Fluid.

In this paper, a high-sensitivity magnetic field sensor based on a single-mode-tapered small-core-single-mode (STSCS) optical fibre structure is investigated. The tapered small-core section of STSCS is surrounded by magnetic fluid (MF) containing ferromagnetic particles (FMPs) of different concentrations. The FMPs align themselves along the magnetic field, depending on the strength of the magnetic field. This alignment of FMPs changes the refractive index around the tapered small-core section, which in turn changes the output spectral response of the STSCS optical fibre structure. The change in spectral response is then calibrated for sensing the magnetic field strength. This paper also investigates the effect of both the taper waist diameter of the STSCS optical fibre structure and the concentration of MF surrounding it on the magnetic field sensitivity. The maximum sensitivity demonstrated in this paper is 0.46 nm/mT for a taper waist diameter of 10 μm surrounded by 1.22% FMPs in the MF. The magnetic sensor demonstrates reversible results, and its effects on the orientation of the magnetic field along the X-Y, X-Z and Y-Z axes are also investigated, which suggest that the sensor is capable of vector magnetic field measurement.

Zero-field level-crossing resonances in a small low-temperature cesium vapor cell for atomic magnetometry applications

Zero-field level-crossing resonances (LCRs) underlay one of the most robust and simplest techniques in atomic magnetometry. LCR-based miniaturized magnetic field sensors have already found relevant applications in biology and medicine. Such sensors utilize a single circularly polarized light wave to interact with alkali-metal atoms (usually Rb or Cs) and to observe the LCR in a vapor-cell transmission when a transverse magnetic field is scanned around zero value. A high-temperature regime (T ≈ 120 − 160°C) is required to achieve a desirable sensitivity of measurements. It can be a problem for some applications, especially in a multi-channel mode of operation. Here, we consider two spectroscopy techniques that can provide high-contrast and narrow LCRs under a relatively low temperature of the cell (≤60°C). These techniques imply using two light waves: the pump wave to polarize the atoms and the probe one to register the resonance. A cubic glass cell of 5×5×5 mm3 size is used in the experiments. It is filled with cesium vapors and neon as a buffer gas. The results can be used for developing a miniaturized low-power high-sensitivity magnetic field sensor for biomedical applications.

High-Sensitivity Magnetic Field Sensor Based on Long-Period Grating Near the Dispersion Turning Point

We demonstrate the fabrication of a high-sensitivity magnetic field sensor based on the packaged long-period fiber grating (LPFG) with magnetic fluid. The transmission spectra and the surrounding refractive index (SRI) characteristics of the LPFGs near the dispersion turning point (DTP) were investigated theoretically and experimentally. We have studied the influence of mode order and wavelength separation at DTP on the SRI sensitivity of the DTP-LPFG. The experimental results are consistent with the simulation. The LP <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">0,10</sub> mode has the highest SRI sensitivity of 1956.4 nm/RIU in the range of 1.333-1.435 when the wavelength separation at DTP is 89.1 nm. The sensor achieves a magnetic field sensitivity of 1.9 nm/mT in the magnetic field intensity range of 0-20.5 mT, which indicates that the sensor can be used as a high-sensitivity magnetic field sensor.

Packaged optofluidic microbottle resonator for high-sensitivity bidirectional magnetic field sensing.

We demonstrate a high-sensitivity bidirectional magnetic field sensor based on a packaged optofluidic microbottle resonator (OFMBR) filled with magnetic fluid (MF). The relationship between sensitivity and different wall thicknesses and radial modes of OFMBR is theoretically analyzed. Then the thin-wall OFMBR is fabricated by etching a capillary with the fusion discharge process. The OFMBR and tapered fiber is packaged with a portable and robust coupling configuration. By applying perpendicular or parallel magnetic field directions to the OFMBR, opposite refractive index responses of the MF can be obtained, with resonant wavelengths redshifted or blueshifted as the magnetic field intensity is increased. A magnetic field sensitivity of 98.23 pm/mT can be obtained by using the second-order radial mode when the magnetic field is perpendicular to the packaged OFMBR. When the magnetic field is parallel to the packaged OFMBR, the sensitivity is -304.80 pm/mT by using the third-order radial mode and the detection limit reaches 0.0656 mT. The proposed sensor has the advantages of easy fabrication, high sensitivity, and reliability, showing a great potential in bidirectional magnetic field application.

High-Sensitivity and Low-Loss Vector Magnetic Field Sensor Based on the C-Type Optical Fiber

A low-loss all-straight optical fiber vector magnetic field sensor (OFVMS) based on magnetic fluid (MF) is designed and proposed. The sensing structure is composed of a Section of the C-type optical fiber (CTF) embedded in a pair of multi-mode optical fibers (MMF) and wrapped in a capillary with MF. The asymmetry of the CTF provides support for the vector magnetic field measurement whose direction is perpendicular to the optical transmission direction. According to the results of experiments, it can be obtained that the refractive index (RI) sensitivity of the sensing structure is as high as −15716.6072 nm/RIU. In addition, the intensity sensitivity of the OFVMS in the calibrated 90° direction can reach 202.23 pm/G between 0 and 123 G. At the same time, the transmission loss of the proposed sensor structure is not increased by the filling of MF. The sensor demonstrated has dominance in low cost, easy manufacture, and lower loss compared with the same type of sensor device, which has application prospects in vector magnetic field sensing.

High sensitivity magnetic field sensor based on a Mach-Zehnder interferometer and magnetic fluid

An intensity modulation optical fiber magnetic field sensor based on MZI and magnetic fluid is proposed and demonstrated. The MZI is composed of a no core fiber-thin core fiber-no core fiber (NTN) structure and the cladding of thin core fiber is etched by hydrofluoric acid. The fiber structure is immersed in magnetic fluid. The sensitivity of the etched device is 5.3 times that of the non-etched device. The maximum sensitivity of magnetic field intensity achieved in our experiment as high as 0.563 dB/Oe. Meanwhile, the fringe visibility achieved 30.78 dB. This device has the advantages of convenient manufacture, small volume and high sensitivity. It has application potential in the field of magnetic field sensing.