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arXiv:1212.5624 · Optics Letters

Diffusive suppression of AC-Stark shifts in atomic magnetometers

Ibrahim Sulai, R. Wyllie, Matt Kauer, G. S. Smetana, Ronald T. Wakai, T. G. Walker

Published Mar 13, 2013• 54 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

In atomic magnetometers, the vector AC-Stark shift associated with circularly polarized light generates spatially varying effective magnetic fields, which limit the magnetometer response and serve as sources of noise. We describe a scheme whereby optically pumping a small subvolume of the magnetometer cell and relying on diffusion to transport polarized atoms allows a magnetometer to be operated with minimal sensitivity to the AC-Stark field.

DOI
10.1364/ol.38.000974

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•Jan 1, 2016•0 citations
In atomic magnetometers, the vector AC-Stark shift associated with circularly polarized light generates spatially varying effective magnetic fields, which limit the magnetometer response and serve as sources of noise. We describe a scheme whereby optically pumping a small subvolume of the magnetometer cell and relying on diffusion to transport polarized atoms allows a magnetometer to be operated with minimal sensitivity to the AC-Stark field.
In a spin-exchange-relaxation-free (SERF) atomic magnetometer with ultrahigh sensitivity, the ac-Stark shift generated by circularly polarized light results in the attenuation of the SERF atomic magnetometer response, and the virtual magnetic field gradient induced by the ac-Stark shift can reduce the sensitivity of the SERF atomic magnetometer. In this paper, we use a hybrid optical pumping method to address the ac-Stark shift problem. By switching between left-hand and right-hand circularly polarized lights and compensating the residual magnetic field of the magnetometer, the ac-Stark shift could be reduced and then suppressed effectively.
We demonstrate an all-optical magnetometer capable of measuring the magnitude and direction of a magnetic field using nonlinear magneto-optical rotation in cesium vapor. Vector capability is added by effective modulation of the field along orthogonal axes and subsequent demodulation of the magnetic-resonance frequency. This modulation is provided by the ac Stark shift induced by circularly polarized laser beams. The sensor exhibits a demonstrated rms noise floor of $\ensuremath{\sim}65\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{fT}/\sqrt{\mathrm{Hz}}$ in measurement of the field magnitude and 0.5  mrad/Hz0.5\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{mrad}/\sqrt{\mathrm{Hz}}0.5  mrad/Hz​ in the field direction; elimination of technical noise would improve these sensitivities to 12  fT/Hz12\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{fT}/\sqrt{\mathrm{Hz}}12  fT/Hz​ and $10\text{ }\text{ }\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{rad}/\sqrt{\mathrm{Hz}}$, respectively. Applications for this all-optical vector magnetometer would include magnetically sensitive fundamental physics experiments, such as the search for a permanent electric dipole moment of the neutron.
A hybrid optical pumping method employing a broad linewidth laser is proposed to enhance spin coherence and suppress virtual magnetic field noise in atomic magnetometers. The central frequency of broad linewidth laser is tuned to the resonance peak of the alkali-metal atoms D1 line. Its multiple frequency components suppress AC-Stark shift fluctuations caused by pumping laser frequency variations, thereby reducing virtual magnetic field noise. In addition, these components decrease the average optical absorption cross-section, improving the uniformity of atomic spin polarization, further enhancing spin coherence and extending transverse relaxation time. Experimental results show that, compared with narrow linewidth pumping, the proposed method suppresses virtual magnetic field noise by 17.95% to 34.50%, and increases the magnetometer response by 1.62% to 30.31% at 5 Hz. The average sensitivity within the frequency range of 1-20 Hz is improved to 0.158 fT/Hz 1/2 , representing a significant enhancement of 30.70% compared to narrow linewidth pumping.
The light shift represents a major source of measurement error and system noise in optically pumped atomic magnetometers (OPAMs). Tuning the laser frequency to a specific value is a common and effective approach to suppressing light shift in many optical-pumping systems. However, when this method is applied to OPAMs, a significant issue arises: at the zero-light-shift frequency, the magnetometer’s sensitivity decreases markedly. Consequently, it is not possible to optimize simultaneously both the measurement accuracy affected by the light shift and the overall sensitivity of the magnetometer. To address this contradiction, the underlying mechanism was analyzed using the theory of light absorption and the principles governing light–atom interactions, leading to the proposal of a dual-frequency optical-pumping scheme. Experimental results demonstrate that this approach can suppress the light shift by more than 95% while maintaining the optimal sensitivity of the OPAM. The proposed dual-frequency scheme can also be extended to other circularly polarized optical-pumping systems, thereby facilitating both the enhancement of OPAM performance and its practical deployment in real-world applications.
Light shift arising from the circularly polarized pump beam in atomic magnetometers can induce an undesired magnetic response, and thus affect their accuracy. Here, the light shift and the corresponding cross-talk effect in the magnetometer have been investigated, and a scheme with an additional off-resonant pump beam with an appropriate polarization and intensity has been proposed to effectively reject the light shift. And the experimental results reproduce the expected behavior. This scheme provides a powerful tool to reject the light shift in optical pumping systems, in particular, the hybrid optically pumped systems.
The main focus of this dissertation is investigation of vector AC Stark shifts (light shifts) in evacuated 133Cs paraffin-coated cells. Although light shifts in alkali atoms have been investigated since 1960s, the effect of laser-induced vector light shifts (VLS) in paraffin-coated cells is little explored in literature. The works considering light shift effects primarily focus on transitions relevant for atomic clocks, or magnetometers using buffer gas cells, or magnetometers using broad-spectrum alkali metal lamps. This work, on the other hand, focuses on light shifts in a setup shared by finite-field optical magnetometers that use paraffin-coated sensor cells, as well as on their impact on sensitivity and accuracy of these devices.Along with describing the light shifts, this work presents several techniques that take advantage of the VLS to improve atomic magnetometers as a tool. The proposed techniques eliminate the need for oscillating radio-frequency magnetic fields and replace them with well contained laser beams. This can benefit applications where non-magnetic sensors are needed and stray fields are highly undesirable, such as the search for a permanent electric dipole moment of the neutron.This dissertation includes two such projects, the all-optical vector magnetometer and the rf magnetometer driven by a fictitious magnetic field. In the first project a finite-field optical magnetometer, which is normally a scalar sensor, is augmented with two power-modulated orthogonal laser beams that provide the directional sensitivity. The sensor exhibits a demonstrated rms noise floor of 50 fT/√Hz in measurement of the field magnitude and 0.5 mrad/√Hz in the field direction. Elimination of technical noise would improve these sensitivities to 12 fT/√Hz and 5 μrad/√Hz, respectively. In the second project, the atomic precession in a scalar 133Cs magnetometer is driven by an effective oscillating magnetic field provided by the AC Stark shift of an intensity-modulated laser beam. The demonstrated sensitivity of this magnetometer is 40 fT/√Hz rms, which is equivalent to the conventional coil-driven scalar magnetometer we built sharing the same setup.The Appendix includes documentation on the custom-built polarimeter used in the experiments and the frequency response of the magnetic sensor head.