Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Tech Transfer
Bulk metallic glass for low noise fluxgate, Phase I
Project Description
The team of Prime Photonics, Virginia Tech, and Utron Kinetics propose to demonstrate a method for fabrication of a bulk, amorphous, cobalt-rich material that demonstrates low-noise magnetic properties, superior to those of the 6-81.3 Mo-Permalloy family. In particular, bulk cobalt-rich amorphous materials will provide increased permeability, tunable Curie temperature, highly controlled coercivity and saturation inductance, all without the introduction of magnetostrictive-based excess noise. The bulk nature of the material will provide an unprecedented degree of freedom in core geometry design over existing ribbon-form amorphous alloys, allowing for near-net shapes of densified compacts. The combined effect of these enhcancements will be to increase fluxgate sensitivity, decrease offset and noise, and allow for new, smaller geometries in fluxgate magnetometers.
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Anticipated Benefits
Accurate, direct measurement of the constituent components of weak, DC magnetic fields is of utmost importance in the quest to better understand the dynamics of our planet, the origin and destiny of our solar system, and even the very operation of our universe itself. NASA has employed fluxgate magnetometers in nearly every mission to date. Increased sensitivity and decreased noise can allow for lower mass, lower volume devices that provide comparable, or improved, measurement capablities over current Mo-Permalloy core fluxgates. Additionally, high permeability materials can provide new options for reactive impedance mitigation, EMI/magnetic shielding, and magnetic flux concentration. The ability to accurately quantify magnetic field strength is an enabling technology for many areas of scientific research and commercial applications. Both scalar field strength magnetometers and single- and multi-axis vector magnetometers have been used extensively in commercial applications such as global positioning systems, automotive anti-locking brake systems, medical diagnostic imaging, feedback sensors in active shielding systems. Gradiometric multi-axis vector magnetometers in particular have been used extensively for magnetic anomaly detection and geophysical surveying. Enhanced sensitivity and reduced noise coupled with the geometrical freedom provided by combustion drive compaction of amorphous cobalt alloys will allow for reliable, accurate ultra-miniature fluxgate devices for use a wide variety of commercial applications.
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Primary U.S. Work Locations and Key Partners
| Organizations Performing Work | Role | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prime Photonics, LC | Lead Organization |
Industry
Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB)
|
Blacksburg, Virginia |
Goddard Space Flight Center
(GSFC)
|
Supporting Organization | NASA Center | Greenbelt, Maryland |
Primary U.S. Work Locations
-
Maryland
-
Virginia
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