Electromagnetic gradiometers

An electric field gradiometer comprising:

• a first torsionally operated microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) electric field sensor having a capacitive read-out configured to provide a first measurement of a received electric field;
• a second torsionally operated MEMS electric field sensor coupled to the first torsionally operated MEMS electric field sensor and having the capacitive read-out configured to provide a second measurement of the received electric field;
• and
• control electronics coupled to the first and second torsionally operated MEMS electric field sensors and configured to determine an electric field gradient of the received electric field based the first and second measurements from the first and second torsionally operated MEMS electric field sensors.

An integrated electromagnetic gradiometer array comprising:

• at least two magnetic gradiometers, each magnetic gradiometer including:
• a first torsionally operated microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) magnetic sensor having a magnetic field capacitive read-out configured to provide a first measurement of a received magnetic field,
• a second torsionally operated MEMS magnetic sensor coupled to the first torsionally operated MEMS magnetic sensor and having the magnetic field capacitive read-out configured to provide a second measurement of the received magnetic field, and
• magnetic sensor control electronics coupled to the first and second torsionally operated MEMS magnetic sensors and configured to determine a magnetic field gradient of the received magnetic field based the first and second measurements from the first and second torsionally operated MEMS electromagnetic sensors.