SBIR-STTR Award

This project develops an atomically-referenced vector magnetometer with a goal of substantial improvements in the drift of the sensor relative to existing solid state sensors such as fluxgate magnetometers.

Benefit:
The vector magnetometer described in this proposal seeks to provide a higher performance alternative to fluxgate magnetometers as well as other types of high performance magnetometer such as scalar atomic magnetometers. Fluxgates are widely used in magnetic monitoring and survey applications. The markets that presently make extensive use of magnetic survey include oil and gas exploration, unexploded ordnance detection, geology, volcanology, and archeology.

Keywords:
MAD, MAD, magnetic field, magnetometer, Vector, Fluxgate, ASW

This project supports the development of a new class of high performance vector magnetometers with sensitivity, drift, and accuracy better all other types of vector sensor. The sensor is based on the fundamental properties of the rubidium atom, which is probed using a light field to make the magnetic field measurements. The sensor simultaneously supplies both total field and vector field measurements at a bandwidth of 100 Hz. The sensor is also significantly smaller and more compact than a competing type of vector sensor, the fluxgate magnetometer. The project has three periods, and at the end of each period a vector magnetometer will be developed with progressively higher performance. At the end of the first year, a compact sensor using a microfabricated physics package will be built. At the end of the second year, a larger, higher performance sensor will be built. Finally, at the end of the third year, we will target all the performance metrics in the solicitation, far exceeding the state of the art vector magnetometer performance.

Benefit:
The vector magnetometer described in this proposal seeks to provide a higher performance alternative to fluxgate magnetometers as well as other types of high performance magnetometer such as scalar atomic magnetometers. Fluxgates are widely used in magnetic monitoring and survey applications. The markets that presently make extensive use of magnetic survey include oil and gas exploration, unexploded ordnance detection, geology, volcanology, and archeology. This program specifically addresses the long term stability and accuracy of the vector field measurement. Traditional fluxgate magnetometers are challenged to provide either stable or accurate measurements over long timescales. We anticipate that this new type of sensor can be considered for use everywhere a fluxgate magnetometer is presently used. With both total field and vector measurements, the sensor can provide high quality platform magnetic signature compensation. There is no longer a need for two separate scalar and vector sensors to provide compensation functionality.

Keywords:
Fluxgate, ASW, Magnetic navigation, magnetometer, MAD ---------- We propose a two year program to develop an atomic vector magnetometer to replace standard commercial fluxgate magnetometers in use by the US Navy. Thousands of fluxgate magnetometers are used to measure ship magnetic signatures and they are often limited by low frequency drift. An vector magnetometer based on atomic spin will have significantly improved drift. The alkali metal atomic vector magnetometer we propose to develop has a focus on performance, simplicity, reliability, and long service lifetime: at least 10 years in operation.