Apparatus and methods using mechanical resonators to enhance sensitivity in lorentz force magnetometers
US6812696B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 21, 2001 |
| Grant date | Nov 2, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 21, 2021 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01R33/028
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A Lorentz Force magnetometer based on a mechanical resonator including a resonant, vibrating electrically conducting string or insulating fiber coated with an electrically conducting material and its response to a Lorentz Force wherein the string or fiber, fixed at two ends, is tensioned over two frets (supports) separated by a distance, L, hence, becoming mechanically resonant with high Q. The frets constrain the position of the string or fiber but not the angle it makes with the fret, thus, permitting measurement of multiple vector magnetic fields. The magnetometer can be easily manufactured in arrays with the tension and, hence, resonant frequency for each magnetometer being rapidly, sequentially, and dynamically varied through the use of, e.g., piezo/MEMS elements. If the fiber is light conducting, a compact and sensitive detector using light escaping from an aperature in the conducting material coating the fiber can be implemented.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.