Chairperson

Various areas of technology require the generation of accurately known quasi-static multi-axis dipole or quasi-dipole magnetic fields in a region of free space. Traditionally, this is accomplished using arrays of small coils of wire driven by known or accurately-measured current sources. The traditional small coils cannot be accurately constructed, so the gener-ated fields must be laboriously characterized by measurements at various known points in the region of interest. Since the field-measuring instruments must themselves be calibrated, the measurement accuracy is problematic. A method of precisely constructing coil arrays would solve the problem by permitting the field to be calculated from knowledge of the coils’ geometry and of the current flowing in the coils. Use of printed-circuit techniques, combined with the kinematic rigidity of a regular tetrahedron, provides an inexpensive means of con-structing arrays of coils whose mechanical dimensions are accurately known. A tetrahedral arrangement of four coils is described. Each coil comprises a precisely located set of straight conductor segments. The magnetic field produced by each coil is accurately calculated from knowledge of the locations of the segments and of the current flowing through the coil. T