Our Center has successfully completed the first stage of launching a domestic prototype of a non-zero field optical pumped atomic gradiometer.
As part of the strategic project of the Priority 2030 program, HSE, together with the A.F. Ioffe Institute of Physics and Technology and LIFT Center LLC, assembled an experimental installation that includes a precision laser-optical system necessary for the operation of a MON sensor.
The sensitivity of the sensor was measured, which amounted to small tens of a femto test in the one-hertz band and coincided with the theoretically calculated one, and a number of calibration tests were performed. Unlike foreign commercially available analogues, the sensor under development is capable of operating in the Earth's external magnetic field and does not require additional shielding.
The project became possible thanks to the close collaboration of specialists in the field of neurophysiology, optics and quantum physics within the framework of the completed strategic project "Sustainable Brain" and with the financial support of LIFT Center LLC. The development paves the way for the creation of a domestic magnetoencephalographic system capable of replacing imported analogues and expanding the possibilities of fundamental and applied research in the field of neuroscience and medical applications of neuroimaging.
The development of the project involves conducting standard neurophysiological experiments measuring brain activity, miniaturizing the installation, and expanding the prototype to a multi-channel system. The study is conducted on the basis of the unique laboratory "Neurogarage" of the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience of the National Research University of Higher School of Economics, equipped with a magnetically shielded camera that allows for ultra-sensitive magnetic measurements in a subpicoteslas magnetic environment.