Miniature Laser Magnetometer

A conceptual design has been developed for a miniature laser magnetometer (MLM) that will measure the scalar magnitude and vector components of near-Earth magnetic fields. The MLM incorporates a number of technical innovations to achieve high-accuracy and high-resolution performance while significantly reducing the size of the laser-pumped helium magnetometer for use on small satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The MLM will have a dynamic range up to 75,000 nT. The scalar sensitivity will be 1 pT(Hz)–1/2 at 1 Hz with an accuracy of 0.2 nT. The vector sensitivity will be 1 pT(Hz)–1/2 at 1 Hz with an accuracy of 0.5 nT.