Miniature atomic scaler magnetometer for space based on the rubidium isotope 87Rb

Published

July 22, 2016

Author(s)

Haje Korth, Kim Strohbehn, Francisco Tejada, Andreas G Andreou, John Kitching, Svenja A. Knappe, S. John Lehtonen, Shaughn M. London, Matiwos Kafel

Abstract

A miniature absolute scalar magnetometer based on the rubidium isotope 87Rb was developed for possible future operation in space. The instrument design implements both Mx and Mz mode operation and leverages a novel micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) fabricated vapor cell and a custom silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) integrated circuit. The vapor cell has a volume of only 1 mm3 so that it can be efficiently heated to its operating temperature by a specially-designed, low-magnetic-field-generating resistive heater implemented in multiple metal layers of the transparent sapphire substrate of the SOS-CMOS chips. The SOS-CMOS chip also hosts the Helmholtz coil and associated circuit to stimulate the magnetically-sensitive atomic resonance and temperature sensors. The instrument has a total mass of less than 500 g and uses 0.5 W of power, while maintaining sensitivity, 15 pT/√Hz at 1 Hz, comparable to present state-of-the-art absolute magnetometers.

Conference Dates

April 20-24, 2015

Conference Location

Boulder, CO, US

Conference Title

Conference on Measurement Techniques in Solar and Space Physics

Pub Type

Conferences

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Keywords

Chip-scale, magnetometer, space

Citation

Korth, H. , Strohbehn, K. , Tejada, F. , Andreou, A. , Kitching, J. , Knappe, S. , Lehtonen, S. , London, S. and Kafel, M. (2016), Miniature atomic scaler magnetometer for space based on the rubidium isotope ⁸⁷Rb, Conference on Measurement Techniques in Solar and Space Physics, Boulder, CO, US, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=919608 (Accessed October 16, 2025)