Ultralow-Noise Chopper Amplifier for Seafloor E-Field Measurement

TL;DR

A new chopper amplifier was developed to measure extremely weak electric fields on the seafloor with very low noise.

Contribution

The paper introduces a compact, low-power chopper amplifier with ultralow noise for seafloor E-field measurements.

Findings

The chopper amplifier achieved 0.6 nV/rt(Hz) noise at 1 Hz and 1.2 nV/rt(Hz) at 0.001 Hz.

The design reduced 1/f noise effectively in the low-frequency range using a high-impedance module.

The amplifier was successfully used in offshore geophysical prospecting with stable performance.

Abstract

The seafloor E-field signal is extremely weak and difficult to measured, even with a high signal-to-noise ratio. The preamplifier for electrodes is a key technology for ocean-bottom electromagnetic receivers. In this study, a chopper amplifier was proposed and developed to measure the seafloor E-field signal in the nanovolt to millivolt range at significantly low frequencies. It included a modulator, transformer, AC amplifier, high-impedance (hi-Z) module, demodulator, low-pass filter, and chopper clock generator. The injected charge in complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) switches that form the modulator is the main source of 1/f noise. Combined with the principles of peak filtering and dead bands, a hi-Z module was designed to effectively reduce low-frequency noise. The chopper amplifier achieved an ultralow voltage noise of 0.6 nV/rt (Hz) at 1 Hz and 1.2 nV/rt (Hz) at 0.001 Hz. The corner frequency was less than 100 mHz, and there were few 1/f noises in the effective observation frequency band used for detecting electric fields. Each component is described with relevant tradeoffs that realize low noise in the low-frequency range. The amplifier was compact, measuring Ø 68 mm × H 12 mm, and had a low power consumption of approximately 23 mW (two channels). The fixed gain was 1500 with an input voltage range of 2.7 mVPP. The chopper amplifiers demonstrated stable performance in offshore geophysical prospecting applications.

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