New kind of fluxgate magnetometer probe with enhanced electronic processing

The design of a new kind of probe, providing the advantages of closed path magnetic circuits, is described in this work. It also provides off-set adjustment and a higher directionality as compared with the ring core probes. Signal conditioning circuits for fluxgate magnetometers require synchronization circuits for the pick-up coils second harmonic signal and the reference signals. Any phase difference in such signals will increase the magnitude of errors in the measurement of a magnetic field. A phase locked loop (PLL) has been used to eliminate any possibility of occurrence of a phase difference. Experimental results show that this design makes the system more accurate and reliable, and reduces power consumption.