A nuclear precession magnetometer has been constructed for the precise measurement of the earth's total magnetic field. The interaction of the intrinsic magnetic moment of the proton in a sample of water with an external magnetic field
F causes a precession of the spin axis of the proton about the magnetic field. The precessional frequency
f is related to the magnitude of the total field
F as follows:
2π
f = γ
F (1)
where γ is a constant, known as the gyromagnetic ratio. The precession of the proton induces an e, m. f. in a coil wound around the sample. By measuring the frequency of this e. m. f., we can know the value of
F from (1). The induced signal is amplified and mixed with a standard frequency of 1930 cps, and recorded as the beat frequency on the pen oscillograph tape. The number of beats within an accurately measured time interval of 2-3 seconds is readily measured with an uncertainty of less than ± 0.02.
The accuracy is thus better than ± 0.01 cps in frequency measurement, that is, ± 0.1- -0.2γ in the measurement of total magnetic field The brock diagram of the apparatus is shown in Fig. 1.
In June, 1957, the comparison measurements of the proton precession magnetometer with the GSI 1st and 2nd order magnetometers were made at Kanozan observatory and the result showed that the value of horizontal intensity obtained by the proton precession magnetometer is smaller than that reffered to the Japanese standard byl8 γ (27γ in total force).
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