PMD Scientific Electrochemical Seismic Sensors

This unique instrument has been developed for the US
Department of Energy for use as a wide passband
highly sensitive vibration sensor in the beam focusing
servo-system of linear super-colliders (very high energy
particle accelerators). As such this sensor has been
highly radiation hardened and designed to function
normally in extremely strong magnetic fields – up to 6
Tesla.
PMD Scientific electrochemical seismic sensors are the
only among all known highly sensitive devices that can
perform adequately in such environment. The sensors
were successfully tested in high strength magnetic fields
at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) and
demonstrated complete immunity to the field. Presently
several pilot seismometers are tested by the
International Linear Collider team in France where there are going to be used
when the construction of the accelerator is completed.
Each seismometer has a single component sensor which can work readily as
either horizontal or vertical with the sensitivity axis always looking along the
direction indicated by the arrow. Moreover, this sensor is essentially isotropic –
i.e. it will perform equally well in any random orientation. Its extremely small
dimensions fully answer severe space limitations imposed by the linear colliders
focusing systems.