UPC researchers coordinate the creation of a compact magnetic sensor to reduce noise on large space missions
One of the researchers of the MELISA project working on the development of the miniaturised magnetic sensor prototype to reduce noise on space missions. Source: MELISA team (IEEC)
The UPC’s Space Science and Technology Research Group (CTE) has coordinated the development of a compact and low-power magnetic sensor to reduce noise based on magnetic field modulation using microelectromechanical resonators (MEMS). Created jointly with the ICE-CSIC and the ICCUB, it is the result of the MELISA project, promoted by the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC), and will serve as a sample to validate the feasibility of this technique on the LISA mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) to detect gravitational waves in space.
Sep 09, 2022
Manel Domínguez-Pumar, a researcher at the Space Science and Technology Research Group (CTE) of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC) and the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC), and a professor at the Barcelona School of Telecommunications Engineering (ETSETB), has coordinated MELISA, which stands for MEMS miniaturized low-noise magnetic field sensor for LISA. Starting in 2021 as the winning project of an IEEC’s internal call, MELISA has been developed jointly by the CTE-UPC, the Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC) and the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona (ICCUB). Now the project has been completed and the results have been presented.
The MELISA project aimed to design a miniaturised, very low-noise magnetometer in the ultra-low frequency range used on some space missions, such as the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) of the European Space Agency (ESA), which will be the first gravitational wave observatory in space.
The project has developed a prototype of a compact, low-power magnetic sensor that implements magnetic field modulation using microelectromechanical resonators (MEMS). This prototype will serve as a sample to validate the feasibility of this noise reduction technique to meet the stringent requirements of the LISA mission.
In addition to reducing the magnetic field noise to the level of the LISA mission requirements, the project also aimed to “achieve a miniaturisation that could be useful for other missions and even in other fields of science and technology,” explains Domínguez-Pumar. “Thanks to the IEEC’s internal call, we managed to bring together the staff and equipment of three of its research units in a single project,” he adds.
In the ultra-low frequency range, when all other noise sources have been reduced or eliminated, the so-called “pink noise”, or 1/f, generally dominates and is the main challenge to address. One way to mitigate the effect of this pink noise in magnetic field sensors is through the magnetic field modulation technique. This is a promising technique in space applications, which consists of modulating the local magnetic field to a magnetic resistive sensor. Tunnelling magnetic resistors (TMR)—magnetic sensors that do not require high currents and have a high potential for miniaturisation—are used in this project.
IEEC members collaborating in innovative proposals
In December 2020, the IEEC published an internal competitive call to provide seed funding for a high-potential, high-impact project. The call aimed to stimulate collaboration between IEEC members and groups, and to foster innovative proposals, allowing for feasibility studies and proofs of concept that would increase their maturity.
The funding came from an exceptional endowment obtained in one of the Research Centres of Catalonia (CERCA) evaluations.
The future European gravitational wave observatory
LISA is the future European gravitational wave space observatory, which will consist of a constellation of three satellites flying in a triangular formation. Each satellite will have at its core a free-falling mass that will act as the end mirror of a 2.5-million-kilometre-long interferometer. Each satellite will have about 50 high-precision temperature, magnetic field and radiation sensors, which should be able to monitor minimal variations in the environment that could disturb the free-falling test mass. Fluctuations in the local magnetic field, for example, generate forces and torques in these test masses that can potentially alter the performance of the instrument.
The IEEC is leading the Spanish contribution to LISA, which consists of providing the Science Diagnostics Subsystem (SDS).
