Alignment of a vector magnetometer to an optical prism.

Area of Science:

• Geophysics
• Instrumentation
• Physics

Background:

• Accurate measurement of magnetic fields is crucial in various scientific disciplines.
• Traditional magnetometer alignment methods often focus on relative axis measurements, limiting absolute directional determination.
• A need exists for techniques that allow direct comparison of magnetometer axes to physical references.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and demonstrate a novel method for aligning vector magnetometers to a rigidly attached prism.
• To enable absolute determination of the magnetic field direction in space.
• To achieve high precision in magnetometer alignment and characterization.

Main Methods:

• Alignment of a vector magnetometer to a rigidly attached prism.
• Optical comparison of magnetometer axes to physical surfaces within the apparatus.
• Utilizing a fluxgate magnetometer for demonstration.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated precision better than 500 μrad for magnetometer alignment.
• Obtained coil orthogonality errors with similar precision.
• Determined the relative sensitivity of the three magnetometer axes with a precision of approximately 5 × 10^-4.

Conclusions:

• The presented method allows for absolute determination of magnetic field direction.
• The technique offers superior precision compared to methods focused on relative angle measurements.
• This approach provides valuable insights into magnetometer performance, including coil orthogonality and axis sensitivity.