A team of physicists has developed a new type of compact, ultra-sensitive magnetometer that could be useful in a variety of applications involving weak magnetic fields. The sensors are ultra-sensitive, small, inexpensive to make, and work on minimal power.

A traditional way of sensing magnetic fields is through the Hall effect. When a conducting material carrying current comes into contact with a magnetic field, the electrons in that current are deflected in a direction perpendicular to their flow. That creates a small perpendicular voltage, which can be used by Hall sensors to detect the presence of magnetic fields.

The new device makes use of a cousin to the Hall effect — known as the anomalous Hall effect (AHE) — that arises in ferromagnetic materials. While the Hall effect arises due to the charge of electrons, the AHE arises from electron spin — the tiny magnetic moment of each electron. The effect causes electrons with different spins to disperse in different directions, which gives rise to a small but detectable voltage.

The new device uses an ultra-thin ferromagnetic film made of cobalt, iron, and boron atoms. The spins of the electrons prefer to be aligned in the plane of the film — a property called in-plane anisotropy. After the film is treated in a high-temperature furnace and under a strong magnetic field, the spins of the electrons develop a tendency to be oriented perpendicular to the film with what’s known as perpendicular anisotropy. When these two anisotropies have equal strength, electron spins can easily reorient themselves if the material comes into contact with an external magnetic field. That reorientation of electron spins is detectable through AHE voltage. It doesn’t take a strong magnetic field to flip the spins in the film, which makes the device up to 20 times more sensitive than traditional Hall effect sensors.

The key to making the device work is the thickness of the cobalt-iron-boron film. A film that’s too thick requires stronger magnetic fields to reorient electron spins, which decreases sensitivity. If the film is too thin, electron spins could reorient on their own, which would cause the sensor to fail. The sweet spot for thickness was 0.9 nanometers — a thickness of about four or five atoms.

The device could have widespread applications such as in magnetic immunoassay, a technique that uses magnetism to look for pathogens in fluid samples.

Because the device is very small, thousands or even millions of sensors can be placed on one chip that could test for many different things at one time in a single sample.

Another application could be as part of a magnetic camera that can make high-definition images of magnetic fields produced by quantum materials. Such a detailed magnetic profile would help researchers better understand the properties of these materials.

For more information, contact Kevin Stacey at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; 401-863-3766.