A micromachined magnetic-field sensor based on an electron tunneling displacement transducer

We describe a micromachined magnetic-field sensor that is based on an electron tunneling transducer. This tunnel sensor is small, very sensitive, operates at ambient temperature and requires very little power. The measured resolution of the sensor is 0.3 nT/√Hz at 1 Hz. The limiting resolution, calculated based on fundamental noise sources, is 0.002 nT/√Hz at 1 Hz. The dominant source of the observed noise in the present device is low frequency air pressure fluctuations.

[1]  The magnetostriction of CoFeNiMo metallic glasses measured with a tunneling transducer , 1992 .

[2]  Fabrication of micromachined silicon tip transducer for tactile sensing , 1993 .

[3]  T. Kenny,et al.  A miniature high-sensitivity broad-band accelerometer based on electron tunneling transducers , 1994 .

[4]  Jaklevic,et al.  Scanning-tunneling-microscope observation of surface diffusion on an atomic scale: Au on Au(111). , 1988, Physical review letters.

[5]  Single crystal silicon nanomechanisms for scanned-probe device arrays , 1992, Technical Digest IEEE Solid-State Sensor and Actuator Workshop.

[6]  T. Kenny,et al.  Wide-bandwidth electromechanical actuators for tunneling displacement transducers , 1994 .

[7]  Jacques E. Romain,et al.  The Physics of Electricity and Magnetism , 1960 .

[8]  C. V. Haesendonck,et al.  Topographic study of thin gold films grown on SiO2 , 1992 .

[9]  W. J. Kaiser,et al.  An electron tunneling sensor , 1989 .

[10]  S. Waltman,et al.  Novel infrared detector based on a tunneling displacement transducer , 1991 .

[11]  N. C. MacDonald,et al.  Fabrication of high frequency two-dimensional nanoactuators for scanned probe devices , 1992 .

[12]  G. Binnig,et al.  Proposal for a novel gravitational‐wave sensor , 1988 .

[13]  R. Colton,et al.  Magnetostriction measurements using a tunneling-tip strain detector , 1990 .

[14]  L. M. Miller,et al.  Micromachined infrared sensors using tunneling displacement transducers , 1996 .

[15]  Dennis J. Trevor,et al.  Room temperature surface diffusion mechanisms observed by scanning tunneling microscopy , 1991 .

[16]  Proposal for a novel magnetometer , 1991 .

[17]  R. Nuzzo,et al.  Molecular ordering of organosulfur compounds on Au(111) and Au(100): Adsorption from solution and in ultrahigh vacuum , 1993 .

[18]  James S. Murday,et al.  Magnetic field sensing with magnetostrictive materials using a tunneling tip detector , 1989 .

[19]  William J. Kaiser,et al.  Micromachined tunneling displacement transducers for physical sensors , 1993 .

[20]  Gil U. Lee,et al.  Direct measurement of the forces between complementary strands of DNA. , 1994, Science.

[21]  Mark F. Bocko,et al.  Tunneling transducers: Quantum limited displacement monitors at the nanometer scale , 1991 .

[22]  David A. Kidwell,et al.  Sensing Discrete Streptavidin-Biotin Interactions with Atomic Force Microscopy , 1994 .

[23]  T. Gabrielson.  Mechanical-thermal noise in micromachined acoustic and vibration sensors , 1993 .

[24]  S. Waltman,et al.  Micromachined silicon tunnel sensor for motion detection , 1991 .

[25]  H. Fujita,et al.  An integrated lateral tunneling unit , 1992, [1992] Proceedings IEEE Micro Electro Mechanical Systems.

[26]  Richard Hockney,et al.  Microfabricated magnetometer using Young's modulus changes in magnetoelastic materials , 1992, Defense, Security, and Sensing.

[27]  Stephenson,et al.  Vacuum tunneling probe: A nonreciprocal, reduced-back-action transducer. , 1988, Physical review letters.

[28]  R. Colton,et al.  A Tunneling-tip magnetometer , 1989 .

[29]  Joyce,et al.  Mechanical relaxation of organic monolayer films measured by force microscopy. , 1992, Physical review letters.

[30]  H. Zijlstra.  A Vibrating Reed Magnetometer for Microscopic Particles , 1970 .