Improved Electron-Tunneling Magnetometer

Efforts are underway to develop an electron-tunneling magnetometer with a "planarized" (as explained below) design. Older designs of electron-tunneling magnetometers are more three-dimensional in character and, as such, entail some difficulties of fabrication. [Such an older design was described in "Electron-Tunneling Magnetometer" (NPO-18493) NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 17, No. 9 (September 1993), page 32.] Relative to the older designs, the present design offers advantages of sensitivity, manufacturability, and cost.