• Question: What are the instruments of measuring magnetic fields?

    Asked by whiteheb to Arttu, Ceri, James_M, Monica, Philip on 15 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Philip Dolan

      Philip Dolan answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      Gauss meter springs to mind. Also Hall effect meter. In fact the nitrogen vacancy centre in diamonds that I look at can also be used as a microscopic magnetic field sensor (although they might not give you marks for writing that in an exam).

    • Photo: Arttu Rajantie

      Arttu Rajantie answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      Instruments that measure magnetic fields are called magnetometers. A compass is a very simple example, although it really only measures the direction and not strength of the field. For very weak fields, one can use a SQUID (superconducting quantum interference device), which is basically a tiny loop of a superconducting wire.

    • Photo: Ceri Brenner

      Ceri Brenner answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      in laser plasma experiments, we normally have sizeable magnets in diagnostics that we use to deflect and steer charged particles towards the detectors and sometimes we have to characterise the strength of the magnet using something called a Hall probe (it’s a handheld probe that you place in between the two poles of a magnet pair and measure the magnetic field at different places in the gap)

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