Optical detector for magnetic fields employing feedback circuitry

摘要

An optical detector for magnetic fields detects rotations in the polarization of a beam of polarized light caused by the magnetic fields. A modulator responsive to a fixed frequency signal introduces a fixed frequency of oscillation in the polarization of the light beam. The output signal of a polarization detector is filtered by a band pass filter and is fed, along with the fixed frequency signal, to a phase detector. The output of the phase detector is inverted and used as a feed-back signal to the modulator to cancel the rotation in polarization caused by the magnetic field. This feedback signal is also the final output signal of the detector.