SBIR Phase I: Magnetometer Based on Spin Wave Interferometer

该项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是通过提供一种灵敏、坚固、室温运行的磁力仪。磁力计是在医疗保健、交通安全、食品污染监测和国土安全等各种应用中使用最广泛的仪器之一。事实上，对磁场传感器日益增长的需求体现在16亿美元的全球市场和快速增长的医疗领域。目前，最灵敏的是超导量子干涉器件。高灵敏度对于医学应用是至关重要的。然而，这种高灵敏度只有在低温下才能在超导器件中实现。基于自旋波干涉仪的磁强计将高灵敏度和室温工作结合在一起。这种组合通过降低设备成本极大地改善了医疗保健，通过提供更准确的交通控制来增强运输安全，并通过检测少量重金属来加强食品安全监测。将超导器件的高灵敏度和室温操作相结合的磁强计将对社会有很大的好处。这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目通过提供一种基于自旋波干涉仪的磁强计来满足对高灵敏度和室温操作的磁场传感器的需求。市场上有不同类型的磁传感器可供选择。截至目前，最高灵敏度可达特斯拉，由超导量子干涉设备提供。然而，只有在低温下才能达到这种高灵敏度。后者使超导磁强计变得昂贵，并限制了其实际应用。所提出的磁强计是基于自旋波干扰的，并且没有超导器件固有的限制。研究目标包括开发和演示一种紧凑、廉价的磁强计，其灵敏度高达特斯拉，工作温度范围从低温到560K。拟议的研究结果将对需要日益精确和坚固的磁传感器的商业、国防和国土安全应用产生影响。紧凑型和高灵敏度磁强计的开发也将与生物传感和生物医学应用相关。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is through providing a sensitive, robust, room temperature operating magnetometer. Magnetometers are among the most widely used instruments in a variety of applications including healthcare, transportation safety, food contamination monitoring, and homeland security. In fact, the growing need for magnetic field sensors manifests itself in the $1.6 billion global market with a fast-growing medical segment. As for today, the maximum sensitivity is provided by the Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices. The high sensitivity is critically important for medical applications. However, this high sensitivity can be achieved in the superconducting devices only at cryogenic temperatures. The proposed magnetometer based on spin wave interferometer combines high sensitivity with room temperature operation. This combination provides a great improvement in healthcare by reducing the cost of equipment, in transportation safety enhancement by providing more accurate traffic control, and in food safety monitoring by detecting small concentrations of heavy metals. It will be of great benefit to society to have a magnetometer combining the high sensitivity of superconducting devices and room temperature operation.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project addresses the need for sensitive and room temperature operating magnetic field sensors by providing a magnetometer based on spin wave interferometer. There are different types of magnetic sensors available on the market. As of today, the maximum sensitivity up to attoTesla is provided by the Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices. However, this high sensitivity can be achieved only at cryogenic temperatures. The latter makes superconducting magnetometers expensive and limits its practical application. The proposed magnetometer is based on spin wave interference and free of constraints inherent in superconducting devices. The research objectives encompass the development and demonstration of a compact, non-expensive magnetometer with up to attoTesla sensitivity operating in a temperature range from cryogenic to 560 K. The outcomes of the proposed research will have an impact on commercial, defense and homeland security applications that need increasingly precise and robust magnetic sensors. The development of compact and high-sensitive magnetometer will be relevant to bio-sensing and bio-medical applications as well.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.