Reduction of Environmental Magnetic Field Noise for Detection of Small Magnetic Contaminants

When performing high-sensitivity magnetic measurements via a high-sensitivity magnetic sensor such as a SQUID (Superconducting QUantum Interference Device) magnetometer, it is necessary to shield from environmental magnetic noise by employing a magnetic shield box. In general, however, the low frequency of such noise decreases the shielding performance of the magnetic shield box. Hence, the magnetic metallic contaminant signal and the low-frequency ambient magnetic field noise overlap, which makes filtering a challenging task. Therefore, we studied a system that suppresses gradient magnetic noise such as low-frequency environmental noise superimposed on a contaminant signal and commercial power supply noise localized spatially. (paper)