Nested Magnetic Field Compensation With Regulated Coefficients for Bio-Magnetic Field Measurement

For a spin-exchange relaxation free (SERF) optically pumped magnetometer (OPM) that obtains its best performance in a zero magnetic field, an operation environment with approximately zero magnetic field is desired. This article proposes a nested magnetic field compensation system for a magnetic shielding room (MSR) to suppress the magnetic field. Two sets of coils, one set located outside of the MSR and the other one placed inside of the MSR, are combined in the system. The magnetic fields outside of the MSR are measured by tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) sensors, while the fields inside the MSR are monitored by SERF OPMs. The two kinds of sensors complement each other in terms of measurement range and sensitivity. A nested two-stage proportional-integral (PI) closed-loop control strategy is employed to compensate for the magnetic field inside the MSR. The control parameters are regulated by the magnitude of the magnetic field to take advantage of the two kinds of sensors. The effect of the proposed system is experimentally tested. The three-axis field fluctuations are reduced by 97.52%, 98%, and 98.64% by the proposed method, respectively. The proposed method is compared with a conventional two-stage series PI control system. The
$x$
-axis magnetic field fluctuations of the conventional PI control system and the proposed system are 75.81 and 11.71 pT, respectively. The magnetic fluctuation of the proposed system is about 15.5% of the fluctuation of the conventional PI system. To validate the feasibility of the proposed magnetic field compensation system for ultra-weak bio-magnetic field measurement, magnetocardiography (MCG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) signals are measured.