OSE Seminars
High-resolution magnetic imaging with an array of flux guides
Presented by Dr. Igor Savukov, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Potential applications in neuroscience, such as recordings of neural electrical activity at a microscopic scale, set demanding requirements on both high-resolution and high- sensitivity magnetic imaging. Optically pumped magnetometers (OPMs) based on lasers and alkali-metal vapor cells are the most sensitive magnetic field sensors that do not require cryogenic cooling. Recently, we constructed and tested an ultra-sensitive magnetic microscope by combining a cm-size spin-exchange relaxation-free (SERF) OPM with a pair of flux guides (FGs). The FGs served to direct the magnetic flux from a microscopic source of magnetic field to the OPM to improve simultaneously the spatial resolution and the magnetic field sensitivity. The specific demonstrated performance of the FG-OPM device was resolution 250 ?m and sensitivity 23 pT/ Hz<1/2, with potential for further improvement according to numerical simulations to the level that a single neuron could be detected. The initial demonstration and simulations were done for a single pair of FGs [5]. Recently we numerically investigated the performance of a parallel multi-FG system and show that similar high resolution and high sensitivity are feasible. Many applications such as the neuronal direct magnetic imaging, non-destructive tests, and detection of magnetic particles with high throughput are anticipated.
11:00 am, Thursday, March 30, 2017
PAIS-2540, PAIS
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