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Super sensitive sensor
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20/02/2008
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A super sensitive mini sensor developed by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) can detect nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) in tiny samples of fluids flowing through a novel chip. The device may have application as a sensitive chemical analyser.
The chip’s size and sensitivity are said to make the sensor a viable alternative to SQUIDs – superconducting quantum interference devices – that require bulky equipment for cooling to cryogenic temperatures, or conventional copper coils that need much higher magnetic fields like those in traditional MRI.
In tests, the NMR chip detected magnetic signals from atomic nuclei in tap water flowing through a custom chip in which juxtaposes a tiny fluid channel and the NIST sensor. The chip could be used in NMR spectroscopy, a widely used technique for determining physical, chemical, electronic and structural information about molecules.
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Author
Graham Pitcher
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