Ultrawide Bandwidth Optomechanical Magnetometry Using Flux Concentration

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Carey, Benjamin J., Bawden, Nathaniel, Gottardo, Fernando, Bennett, James S., Bulla, Douglas, Foster, Scott, Bowen, Warwick P.
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2026
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author Carey, Benjamin J.
Bawden, Nathaniel
Gottardo, Fernando
Bennett, James S.
Bulla, Douglas
Foster, Scott
Bowen, Warwick P.
author_facet Carey, Benjamin J.
Bawden, Nathaniel
Gottardo, Fernando
Bennett, James S.
Bulla, Douglas
Foster, Scott
Bowen, Warwick P.
contents Low-frequency magnetic fields carry vital information for neuroscience, navigation, and Earth science. However, they are generally weak, making it challenging to measure them with compact, room-temperature magnetometers. To overcome this challenge, we combine an on-chip optomechanical magnetometer with a high-permeability flux concentrator. Beyond boosting sensitivity and bandwidth, exploiting the concentrator's nonlinear response converts low-frequency magnetic fluctuations into higher-frequency signals where the sensor is intrinsically most responsive. This sidesteps the technical noise that has long constrained the application of optomechanical magnetometry at low frequencies. Our measurements show order-of-magnitude improvements in sensitivity and extend performance into the sub-hertz regime, achieving below 20 nT Hz$^{-1/2}$ down to 3 Hz and less than 100 nT Hz$^{-1/2}$ at 0.1 Hz. Because this approach requires no redesign of the underlying architecture, it can be readily applied across magnetometer technologies, opening the way to practical low-frequency sensing for applications from brain activity mapping to undersea navigation and biomedical diagnostics.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_23944
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Ultrawide Bandwidth Optomechanical Magnetometry Using Flux Concentration
Carey, Benjamin J.
Bawden, Nathaniel
Gottardo, Fernando
Bennett, James S.
Bulla, Douglas
Foster, Scott
Bowen, Warwick P.
Optics
Applied Physics
Low-frequency magnetic fields carry vital information for neuroscience, navigation, and Earth science. However, they are generally weak, making it challenging to measure them with compact, room-temperature magnetometers. To overcome this challenge, we combine an on-chip optomechanical magnetometer with a high-permeability flux concentrator. Beyond boosting sensitivity and bandwidth, exploiting the concentrator's nonlinear response converts low-frequency magnetic fluctuations into higher-frequency signals where the sensor is intrinsically most responsive. This sidesteps the technical noise that has long constrained the application of optomechanical magnetometry at low frequencies. Our measurements show order-of-magnitude improvements in sensitivity and extend performance into the sub-hertz regime, achieving below 20 nT Hz$^{-1/2}$ down to 3 Hz and less than 100 nT Hz$^{-1/2}$ at 0.1 Hz. Because this approach requires no redesign of the underlying architecture, it can be readily applied across magnetometer technologies, opening the way to practical low-frequency sensing for applications from brain activity mapping to undersea navigation and biomedical diagnostics.
title Ultrawide Bandwidth Optomechanical Magnetometry Using Flux Concentration
topic Optics
Applied Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.23944