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arXiv · 1905.01661

Detection of low-conductivity objects using eddy current measurements with an optical magnetometer

Kasper Jensen·Michael Zugenmaier·Jens Arnbak·Hans Stærkind·Mikhail V. Balabas·Eugene S. Polzik
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Abstract

Detection and imaging of an electrically conductive object at a distance can be achieved by inducing eddy currents in it and measuring the associated magnetic field. We have detected low-conductivity objects with an optical magnetometer based on room-temperature cesium atomic vapor and a noise-canceling differential technique which increased the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) by more than three orders of magnitude. We detected small containers with a few mL of salt-water with conductivity ranging from 4-24 S/m with a good SNR. This demonstrates that our optical magnetometer should be capable of detecting objects with conductivity < 1 S/m with a SNR > 1 and opens up new avenues for using optical magnetometers to image low-conductivity biological tissue including the human heart which would enable non-invasive diagnostics of heart diseases.

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Kasper Jensen, Michael Zugenmaier, Jens Arnbak, Hans Stærkind, Mikhail V. Balabas, Eugene S. Polzik. 2019-05-05. Detection of low-conductivity objects using eddy current measurements with an optical magnetometer. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevresearch.1.033087

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