Electromagnetic Field Detector
April Lewis, Kelby Penney, and Jim Patterson
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309
Phone: (303) 819-1040, jpatters@colorado.edu
Abstract — This paper presents the design and
implementation of an electromagnetic field detector that is
sensitive to low frequency electromagnetic waves.
Applications of this device would consist of finding 60Hz
electrical branch circuit and main service wiring buried in
walls, detecting transformer coils, or sensing smaller fields
from small appliances and loudspeakers.
I. INTRODUCTION
The benefits of low voltage field detectors can be seen
in everyday electrical installations. An electrician, or even
a handyman/homeowner, might employ this device to
locate buried electrical lines. The only qualification to the
use of the device is that a load must be placed on the
circuit in order for current to flow and therefore create a
large enough electromagnetic field to be sensed. Fig. 1
and Fig. 2 show the basic concept and the actual
construction of this device.
Fig. 1. Block diagram of the electric field detector.
Fig. 2. Photograph of actual constructed field detector.
II. DESIGN AND PHYSICAL CONSTRUCTION
(KELBY PENNEY)
The field detector was designed in four basic parts: a
probe, an amplifier, a power supply, and headphones. The
schematic of the designed circuit is shown in Fig. 3 below.
A radial type 950uH inductor is used as the device to sense
the electromagnetic fields produced. The signal is then
sent through a differentiator consisting of an operational
amplifier with a negative feedback loop. A potentiometer
is placed within the loop to control the gain of the
amplifier stage. A pair of headphones is used to hear the
amplified signal, which sounds like a 60Hz buzz. The
operational amplifier is powered by a 12V DC power
supply connected to a SPST switch. The entire circuit is
enclosed in a black plastic box with the switch,
potentiometer, headphone jack and probe wire external to
the box. The probe itself uses an empty pen tube to hold
the radial inductor. There were several capacitors used for
AC and DC coupling purposes. Capacitor C1 AC couples
the input source (the probe signal) into the amplifier stage.
C2 acts as a grounding capacitor, whereas C3 again is used
to AC couple the output signal to the headphones. C4 is
used to DC couple the supply voltage to the amplifier
supply pins. Finally R1 and R2 are used as a voltage
divider to provide 6V at pin 3 of the op-amp.
Fig. 3. Schematic of the electric field detector.
 III. DIFFER. AMPLIFIER W/ VARIABLE GAIN amplifier. The op-amp circuit has various amplifier types
(APRIL LEWIS) using BJT transistors. These types include several
different differential amplifiers as well as a network of
The amplifier stage of the circuit has an inverting RC
current mirrors, common-emitter and common collector
differentiator, shown in Fig. 4, that has a negative
amplifiers. This network, along with the feedback loop
feedback loop with a variable gain between -76 and -113.
external to the op-amp, creates the large gain as well as a
The variation in the gain is obtained by changing the value
relatively low output resistance for the differentiator
of the potentiometer. The potentiometer ranges from 0 to
amplifier circuit. [2]
1 M ohms. The large gain is necessary to amplify the
signal to an audible range. The capacitor (C1) is used to
obtain the required gain as well as AC couple the input
signal. The AC coupling blocks any DC current from
entering the amplifier stage. Therefore, the headphones
will not produce a sound unless the probe detects an AC
signal. [3]

Fig. 4. RC Differentiator w/ gain of (-RC) [3]

The LM741 operational amplifier was chosen for this
application for several reasons. The minimum supply
voltage of the operational amplifier is 10 V, which is
below the 12 V that is used. The bandwidth of the
amplifier is also well within the required range of 60 Hz,
but most importantly the amplifier is cost efficient. The
specifications of the LM741 are in Fig. 5 below.
Fig. 6. Schematic for LM741 op-amp[4]
IV. RADIAL CAN TYPE INDUCTOR - PEN PROBE
(JIM PATTERSON)
A radial can-type inductor is used for the probe.
Through Faraday’s Law, emf = -dphi/dt, we know that an
induced electric field on the coil will occur due to any B
field generated by a current. This will be noticeable if the
current is in close enough proximity to the inductor coil
and the resultant signal, voltage change, will be amplified
and heard in the headphones as a 60Hz buzz. The direction
and magnitude of the B field are extremely variable, which
creates different induced E fields in the probe at every
moment in time and space. The magnetic flux through the
inductor is found as phi = integral(B*ds). The surface (ds)
through which the B field is integrated is the area inside
the inductor coil (pi*r^2). Therefore, the change in this
generated flux will create an induced electric field and
emf. [1]

Fig. 5. Specifications of LM741 op-amp [4]

The operational amplifier itself consists of a network of

transistors making up several stages of amplification. Fig.
6 shows the schematic for the LM741 operational
 V. DISCUSSION

This paper presents an example of a viable design and

implementation of an electromagnetic field detector. The
actual experimental results using the detector were much
less sensitive than expected. The practical applications of
the device would be limited to trivial detection of strong
fields in close proximity.
We conclude that a more sensitive field detector could
be designed and constructed with a larger budget allowing
for a better probe design and a different type of amplifier.

REFERENCES
[1] Z. Popovic, B. Popovic, Introductory Electromagnetics. pp.
265-277, 2000.
[2] A. Sedra, K. Smith, Microelectronic Circuits. pp.893-921,
2004.
[3] R. Thomas, A. Rosa, The analysis and design of linear
circuits, pp.260-265, 2004.
[4] www.national.com
.