In Situ MEMS Gradiometer with Nanometer-Resolution Optical Detection System

Mechanically resonant ferromagnetic MEMS sensors intended for magnetic field gradient measurements are presented. Suspended quad-beams with proof mass have been designed to improve their sensitivity and to simplify the detection. Fabricated devices exhibit the compact size of current MEMS technologies and are built within a simple deep-reactive-ion etching-based process. Nanometer-resolution detection based on optical interferometry and signal processing techniques have been employed to find out dynamic-mode transformation factors of 6.25 × 10−3 T/m/Hz with 0.1-Hz resolution. The device performs in situ gradiometry with a single-sensor structure, which represents a technological advance to current-art gradiometers.