The current boom in nanosatellites, which are revolutionizing space exploration, calls for the development of suitable miniature instruments. In particular, the extremely high-performance magnetometers used to date on-board satellite, such as search-coils or flux-gates, are heavy and cumbersome, and unsuitable for these new satellites.
The aim of the MAROT project is to develop a miniature magnetometer that is ultra-sensitive over a wide frequency band (DC-10kHz) and easy to integrate. This sensor is based on the use of magnetic tunnel junctions in an innovative device. MAROT is designed to target space applications, thanks to a reduction by a factor 10 of mass and dimensions, with similar or better performance than state-of-the-art magnetometers. The MAROT project brings together a space physics laboratory (LPC2E) and SPINTEC. The latter is in charge of the development and optimization of the device without electronics, including material studies, microfabrication, electrical and magnetic characterization, and the production of flux concentrators by electroplating.
The final objective of the project is to obtain a demonstrator of the sensor including electronics; projections based on current experimental results indicate a detection capacity below 1pT/Hz1/2. This ability to detect very weak fields makes it ideal for a wide range of applications including medical.
Local contact at SPINTEC: Claire Baraduc
Partner: UMR 7328, Laboratoire de Physique et de Chimie de l’Environnement et de l’Espace, CNRS