Story perspectives

China Builds Room-Temperature Magnetometer for Femtotesla Signals

9/5/2026

Summary

Story summary

Chinese researchers created room-temperature Levitated Magnet Magnetometer (LeMaMa) detecting magnetic signals a billion times weaker than Earth’s field.
The device uses a floating needle to measure femtotesla-level magnetic deflections.
Assistant professor Ji Wei said its size and sensitivity suit fundamental-physics experiments.
Researchers from Peking University and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz co-authored the study published in Science on August 6, 2026.
LeMaMa could broaden dark-matter searches and enable brain-magnetic activity monitoring without cryogenic cooling.

1 of 1

Story summary

Chinese researchers created room-temperature Levitated Magnet Magnetometer (LeMaMa) detecting magnetic signals a billion times weaker than Earth’s field.
The device uses a floating needle to measure femtotesla-level magnetic deflections.
Assistant professor Ji Wei said its size and sensitivity suit fundamental-physics experiments.
Researchers from Peking University and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz co-authored the study published in Science on August 6, 2026.
LeMaMa could broaden dark-matter searches and enable brain-magnetic activity monitoring without cryogenic cooling.