High Sensitivity Tunneling Magnetoresistive Magnetometers

SBIR topic DON27BZ02-NV015 (U.S. Department of Defense – Navy), Phase I and II. Open to U.S. small businesses. Opens: December 2, 2026. Closes: January 6, 2027. Many Navy systems utilize magnetometer technologies for the remote detection, localization, and classification of ferrous objects. Decades of research into different technologies including optically pumped magnetometers have provided highly sensitive technologies which meet most Navy sensitivity needs. However, higher sensitivity magnetometers also possess increased SWAP-C, which limits their applicability in many Navy applications. Therefore, there is a direct need for highly sensitive magnetometers that are also compact, low cost, and low power to support a broader range of Navy mission requirements including one-way attack vehicles, expeditionary warfare, mine warfare, and swarming systems. Over the past 30 years, an adjacent technology known as tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) has had drastic improvements in system sensitivities, unlocking a potential new regime of magnetometer technologies that exhibit ultra-low SWAP-C while maintaining Navy relevant sensitivities. Design Requirements: -Size: less than 10 mm x 10 mm per axis -Power: less than 100 mW per axis -Sensitivity: less than 50 pT/rt(Hz) @ 1 Hz -Frequency Range: DC-500KHz -Dynamic Range: -100 uT to 100 uT -Nonlinearity over dynamic range: less than 0.1 % -Standardized per unit electrical packaging Official solicitation: https://www.dodsbirsttr.mil/topics-app/