64 nanotimes News in Brief

Boehme’s new sensor is known as an Organic Magnetic Resonance Magnetometer or OMRM. Its one disadvantage is it is slow, taking up to a few seconds to detect a magnetic field. Boehme hopes to combine his technology with similar developing magnetometer technology known as an Organic Magneto-Resistant sensor, or OMAR, which is more than 100 times faster but requires calibration, isn’t very accurate, detects only weak to moderate magnetic fields and is vulnerable to temperature fluctuations and material degradation.

The new device "can literally get old and crusty, and as long as it can carry a detectable current, the magnetic field can be measured accurately," Boehme says.

Boehme says new experiments will determine how much smaller the 1-square-millimeter sensing area can be made and still have it accurately detect magnetic fields. He is aiming for 1 million times smaller: "It’s a matter of microfabrication." 

W.J. Baker, K. Ambal, D.P. Waters, R. Baarda, H. Morishita, K. van Schooten, D.R. McCamey, J.M. Lupton, C. Boehme: Robust absolute magnetometry with organic thin-film devices, In: Nature Communications, Vol. 3,
June 12, 2012, Article number 898, DOI:10.1038/ncomms1895

_{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms1895}

Image: The orange spot is only about 5-by-5mm (about one-fifth inch on a side), and the part that actually detects magnetic fields is only 1-by-1mm. This organic semiconductor paint is deposited on a thin glass substrate which then is mounted onto a circuit board with that measures about 20-by-30mm (about 0.8 by 1.2inches). 

A $10 million gift from the Querrey Simpson Charitable Foundation will establish a center that will enhance Northwestern University’s (US) global leadership position in regenerative nanomedicine.

 _{http://www.ibnam.northwestern.edu}