Category: Lab Instruments

The AGICO JR6 spinner magnetometer has a sensitivity of 2 x 10^-6 A/m (at high speed) and measures a sample in less than a minute. Our instrument is controlled by custom-written software, which is better suited for rock-magnetic applications. It is a workhorse in the lab with students measuring mostly soil and lake sediment samples.

The Kappabridge KLY-4S allows for the measurement of magnetic susceptibility at room temperature. With the available CL3 cryostat and CS3 furnace attachments susceptibility measurements between -195°C and + 700°C are possible. I also own a (rarely used) rotator attachment, which allows for the automated AMS measurements.

The Bartington MS3 susceptibility meter is equipped with the classic MS2B dual-frequency sensor, which allows for the determination of frequency-dependent susceptibility at 470Hz and 4.7kHz. Contrary to the MS2 susceptibility meter, this model has no internal batteries and cannot be taken into the field without a laptop or similar computer. In my case, it pretty much lives in the lab.

The ZHinstruments SM150L and SM150H susceptibility meters measure magnetic susceptibility at room temperature. Using both instruments, susceptibility can be measured between 63Hz and 512kHz. The sensitivity of the instruments ranges between 2.0 x 10^-5 SI and 1.0 x 10^-6 SI, depending on the measurement frequency used. Measuring the frequency-dependence of magnetic susceptibility over a wide range of frequencies allows for the characterization of the superparamagnetic grainsize component of a sample.

The MAGNON International AFD 300 alternating field demagnetizer is capable of demagnetizing samples in peak fields up to 300 mT. It is also used to to impart anhysteretic remanent magnetization (ARM) using bias fields up to 15 micro T. The instrument magnetizes one sample at a time, and its sample throughput is well matched with the Agico spinner magnetometer.