Prospecting for lunar Helium-3 with a radio-frequency atomic magnetometer
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arXiv
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| Natura: | Preprint |
| Pubblicazione: |
2025
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| _version_ | 1866918187668340736 |
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| author | Kominis, I. K. Kosmas, C. |
| author_facet | Kominis, I. K. Kosmas, C. |
| contents | Mining $^3{\rm He}$ from lunar regolith has attracted significant interest in recent years due to the scarcity of $^3{\rm He}$ on Earth and its diverse applications, from cryogenics and medical imaging, to nuclear physics and future nuclear fusion. Given the stringent technical and economic challenges of mining lunar $^3{\rm He}$, precise prospecting is essential. Here we propose a prospecting methodology based on a radio-frequency atomic magnetometer, which can detect the dipolar magnetic field of thermally polarized $^3{\rm He}$ spins. With a 200 g regolith sample and an rf-magnetometer with sensitivity $1~{\rm fT/\sqrt{Hz}}$ we can detect $^3{\rm He}$ with abundance 5 ppb within a measurement time of just 5 min. The associated apparatus is lightweight and significantly more cost-effective than alternative measurement techniques. The proposed prospecting method is readily deployable and could substantially improve the technical and economic feasibility of mining lunar $^3{\rm He}$. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_12386 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Prospecting for lunar Helium-3 with a radio-frequency atomic magnetometer Kominis, I. K. Kosmas, C. Atomic Physics Applied Physics Instrumentation and Detectors Space Physics Mining $^3{\rm He}$ from lunar regolith has attracted significant interest in recent years due to the scarcity of $^3{\rm He}$ on Earth and its diverse applications, from cryogenics and medical imaging, to nuclear physics and future nuclear fusion. Given the stringent technical and economic challenges of mining lunar $^3{\rm He}$, precise prospecting is essential. Here we propose a prospecting methodology based on a radio-frequency atomic magnetometer, which can detect the dipolar magnetic field of thermally polarized $^3{\rm He}$ spins. With a 200 g regolith sample and an rf-magnetometer with sensitivity $1~{\rm fT/\sqrt{Hz}}$ we can detect $^3{\rm He}$ with abundance 5 ppb within a measurement time of just 5 min. The associated apparatus is lightweight and significantly more cost-effective than alternative measurement techniques. The proposed prospecting method is readily deployable and could substantially improve the technical and economic feasibility of mining lunar $^3{\rm He}$. |
| title | Prospecting for lunar Helium-3 with a radio-frequency atomic magnetometer |
| topic | Atomic Physics Applied Physics Instrumentation and Detectors Space Physics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.12386 |