Patent · US Expired

Optical fibre magnetic gradient detector

US4665363A · kind A · utility

11Cited by
2References
11Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateFeb 20, 1986
Grant dateMay 12, 1987
Priority date
Expiry dateFeb 20, 2006

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG01R33/0327
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

Two portions (B,C) of one arm of an optical fibre Mach-Zehnder interferometer are magnetically sensitized and each has applied thereto an a.c. bias fields at a respective different frequency (w.sub.1, w.sub.2). One portion (A) of the other arm of the interferometer is magnetically sensitized and has two a.c. bias fields applied thereto, each at one of the different frequencies (w.sub.1,w.sub.2). The fields for portion A and C are aligned with a first direction (x) whereas those for A and B are parallel, A and B being separated in a second direction (y). The detected output of the interferometer at frequency w.sub.1 is related to the magnetic gradient in the y direction, whereas the detected output at frequency w.sub.2 is related to the magnetic gradient in the x direction. Thus using two bias frequencies allows one interferometer to be used to detect two gradients (FIG. 8).

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.