Research on optical fiber magnetic field sensors based on multi-mode fiber and spherical structure

A magnetic field sensor with a magnetic fluid(MF)-coated intermodal interferometer is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The interferometer is formed by sandwiching a segment of single mode fiber(SMF) between a segment of multi-mode fiber(MMF) and a spherical structure. It can be considered as a cascade of the traditional SMF-MMF-SMF structure and MMF-SMF-sphere structure. The transmission spectral characteristics change with the variation of applied magnetic field. The experimental results exhibit that the magnetic field sensitivities for wavelength and transmission loss are 0.047 nm/m T and 0.215 d B/m T for the interference dip around 1 535.36 nm. For the interference dip around 1548.41 nm,the sensitivities are 0.077 nm/m T and 0.243 d B/m T. Simultaneous measurement can be realized according to the different spectral responses.

Fabrication and characteristics of magnetic field sensors based on nano-polysilicon thin-film transistors

A magnetic field sensor based on nano-polysilicon thin films transistors(TFTs) with Hall probes is proposed.The magnetic field sensors are fabricated on <100> orientation high resistivity(ρ>500Ω·cm) silicon substrates by using CMOS technology,which adopt nano-polysilicon thin films with thicknesses of 90 nm and heterojunction interfaces between the nano-polysilicon thin films and the high resistivity silicon substrates as the sensing layers.The experimental results show that when V_(DS) = 5.0 V,the magnetic sensitivities of magnetic field sensors based on nano-polysilicon TFTs with length-width ratios of 160μm/80μm,320μm/80μm and 480μm/80μm are 78 mV/T,55 mV/T and 34 mV/T,respectively.Under the same conditions,the magnetic sensitivity of the obtained magnetic field sensor is significantly improved in comparison with a Hall magnetic field sensor adopting silicon as the sensing layers.

Experimental Verification and Research for the Distortion in the Integrated Frequency Responses of the High-Pressure Sealed Cabin and Magnetic Field Sensor

Although magnetotelluric sounding method applied to the land is advanced, there are many difficulties when it is applied to marine environment, one of which is how to lay magnetic field sensors down to the seafloor to complete measurements. To protect the magnetic field sensors from intense erosion and high pressure, suitable high-pressure sealed cabins must be designed to load them. For the consideration of magnetic measurement and marine operation, the sealed pressure cabin should be nonmagnetic and transportable. Among all optional materials, LC4 super.hard aluminum alloy has the highest performance of price/quality ratio to make the sealed pressure cabin. However, it does not mean that the high-pressure sealed cabin made using LC4 will be perfect in performance. In fact, because of its weak magnetism, the pressure cabin made using LC4 has distorting effect on frequency responses of the magnetic field sensors sealed in it. This distorting effect does not affect the use of the magnetic field sensor, but if we want to eliminate its effect, we should study it by experimental measurements. In our experiment tests, frequency sweep magnetic field as excitation signal was used, and then responses of the magnetic field sensor before and after being loaded into the high-pressure sealed cabin were measured. Finally, normalized abnormal curves for the frequency responses were obtained, through which we could show how the high-pressure sealed cabin produces effects on the responses of the magnetic field sensor. Experimental results suggest that the response distortion induced by the sealed pressure cabin appears on mid- and high-frequency areas. Using experimental results as standardization data, the frequency responses collected from seafloor magnetotelluric measurements can be corrected to restore real information about the seafloor field source.

Highly Sensitive Fiber-Optic Faraday-Effect Magnetic Field Sensor Based on Yttrium Iron Garnet

The principle and performance of a fiber-optic Faraday-effect magnetic-field sensor based on an yttrium iron garnet (YIG) and two flux concentrations are described. A single polarization-maintaining optical fiber links the sensor head to the source and detection system, in which the technique of phase shift cancellation is used to cancel the phase shift that accumulatein the optical fiber. Flux concentrators were exploited to enhance the YIG crystal magneto-optic sensitivity .The sensor system exhibited a noise-equivalent field of 8 pT/√Hz and a 3 dB bandwidth of ～10 MHz.

Influence of the anisotropy on the magneto-acoustic response of magnetic surface acoustic wave resonators

One-port magnetic surface acoustic wave(MSAW) resonators are fabricated by stacking multilayered(FeCoSiB/SiO2)n films directly on top of interdigital electrodes. It is shown that the magneto-acoustic response of the MSAW resonators critically depends the hysteresis of △E effect. For the magnetic multilayer without induced magnetic anisotropy, the resonance frequency( fR) exhibits a butterfly-like dependence on the external field, therefore, enabling bipolar detection of magnetic field smaller than its coercive field. However, for the magnetic multilayers with induced magnetic anisotropy, butterfly-like or loop-like fR–H curves are measured along the interdigtial electrode fingers or the SAW propagation direction, which can be attributed to the competition between the magnetic field-induced anisotropy and the stress-induced or shape anisotropy.

Miniature Fiber-Optic Magnetic Field Sensor Based on Ampere Force and Fiber Laser

A compact fiber-optic magnetic field sensor is proposed by packaging an orthogonal dual-frequency fiber grating laser and a copper wire with alternating electrical current together inside epoxy resin.The alternating current generates Ampere force in a magnetic field,which changes the birefringence of the fiber laser and hence tunes the frequency of the beat signal after photodetection.The magnetic flux density can then be detected by measuring the frequency change of the beat signal.The sensitivity of the sensor can be tuned with a maximum response of 35.21 kHz/kGs demonstrated.Moreover,the sensor shows good immunity to environment interference.

Design of Fiber Magnetic Field Sensor Based on Fiber Bragg Grating Fabry-Perot Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy

A novel fiber magnetic sensor based on the fiber Bragg grating Fabry-Perot （FBG-FP） cavity ring-down technique with pulse laser injection is proposed and demonstrated theoretically. A general expression of the intensity of the output electric field is derived, and the effect of the external magnetic field on the ring-down time is discussed. The results show that the output light intensity and the ring-down time of the FBG-FP cavity are in the inverse proportion to the magnitude of the external magnetic field. Our results demonstrate the new concept of the fiber magnetic sensor with the FBG-FP cavity ring-down spectroscopy and the technical feasibility.

Ultrasensitive magnetic field sensor based on an in-fiber Mach–Zehnder interferometer with a magnetic fluid component

An ultrasensitive magnetic field sensor based on a compact in-fiber Mach–Zehnder interferometer(MZI) created in twin-core fiber(TCF) is proposed, and its performance is experimentally demonstrated. A section of TCF was spliced between two sections of standard single-mode fibers, and then a microchannel was drilled through one core of the TCF by means of femtosecond laser micromachining. The TCF with one microchannel was then immersed in a water-based Fe_3O_4 magnetic fluid(MF), forming a direct component of the light propagation path,and then sealed in a capillary tube, achieving a magnetic sensing element, which merges the advantages of an MZI with an MF. Experiments were conducted to investigate the magnetic response of the proposed sensor. The developed magnetic field sensor exhibits a linear response within a measurement range from 5 to 9.5 m T and an ultrahigh sensitivity of 20.8 nm/m T, which, to our best knowledge, is 2 orders of magnitude greater than other previously reported magnetic sensors. The proposed sensor is expected to offer significant potential for detecting weak magnetic fields.

MEMS magnetic field sensor based on silicon bridge structure

A MEMS piezoresistive magnetic field sensor based on a silicon bridge structure has been simulated and tested. The sensor consists of a silicon sensitivity diaphragm embedded with a piezoresistive Wheatstone bridge, and a ferromagnetic magnet adhered to the sensitivity diaphragm. When the sensor is subjected to an external magnetic field, the magnetic force bends the silicon sensitivity diaphragm, producing stress and resistors change of the Wheatstone bridge and the output voltage of the sensor. Good agreement is observed between the theory and measurement behavior of the magnetic field sensor. Experimental results demonstrate that the maximum sensitivity and minimum resolution are 48 mV/T and 160 μT, respectively, making this device suitable for strong magnetic field measurement. Research results indicate that the sensor repeatability and dynamic response time are about 0.66% and 150 ms, respectively.

DFB fiber laser sensor for simultaneous measurement of acoustic and magnetic fields

A novel distributed feedback（DFB） fiber laser sensor, which can measure acoustic and magnetic fields simultaneously, is proposed. The magnetic field can be measured by detecting the change of resonant frequency of the fiber laser, and the acoustic pressure can be measured by detecting the phase shift of the fiber laser. Both of the signals can be simultaneously demodulated in the frequency domain without affecting each other. Experimental studies show that the acoustic pressure sensitivity of this sensor is about-130 d B（0 dB re 1 pm∕μPa） and the sensor has a good linearity with a magnetic field sensitivity of 0.57 Hz∕mT.