Sep 27 2005
The ultra-sensitive metal detector under development by mPhase Technologies represents "an enormous potential" for the company, yet many investors are baffled by the technology, asserts the company's chief executive.
In the latest issue of XDSL Investor News, the company's newsletter to shareowners, Ronald A. Durando, mPhase CEO, attempts to familiarize investors with the function and benefits of magnetometers because "many investors tell me they don't understand what they really are."
Magnetometers detect changes or disturbances in magnetic fields and derive information on properties such as direction, presence, rotation, angle, or electrical currents; they make excellent sensors for a wide range of applications. Durando points out that the company's magnetometer will be part of a family of some of the world's most sensitive metal detectors that work at room temperatures. This "un-cooled" class of detectors is designed to be produced with standard silicon production techniques and yield a size no bigger than a single digit marking the year a penny was coined, yet producing a sensitivity that is 1,000 times greater that anything possible with today's un-cooled magnetometers.
"This expected improvement in sensitivity may enable more accurate passive detection (range, bearing and mass) of metallic objects. In military applications, for example, the proposed magnetometer may be able to detect the presence of a solider carrying a rifle at approximately 150 feet from a single sensor, and larger targets such as a car may be detected at 800 feet from a sensor," Durando states.
Metal detection is only one application for these magnetometers, says Durando. "These advanced sensors can also be used for RFID tags, metal stress detection, location and direction finding, representing multi-million dollar opportunities." Because it is more sensitive and less costly than available technology, the new class of magnetometer will find new markets in specialized military as well as mass-market commercial applications, he states.
"The opportunities are enormous," Durando concludes.
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