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arXiv:1810.03185 · Physical Review A

Trispin dynamics in an alkali-metal–noble-gas nuclear-magnetic-resonance gyroscope

Guobin Liu

Published Mar 8, 2019• 9 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

An alkali-metal--noble-gas NMR gyroscope is widely used for precision rotation measurement in fundamental and applied physics. By numerically simulating the alkali-metal--nuclear--nuclear trispin dynamics, we investigate the dependence of gyroscope response on alkali-metal spin relaxation time and nuclear spin magnetization. We found additional resonance peaks appear due to a new source of instability, namely, the inherent multistability of trispin dynamics. The numerical simulation results agree well with the recent experiment, enabling a better understanding and exploitation of the gyroscope signal.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.99.033409

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An alkali-metal--noble-gas NMR gyroscope is widely used for precision rotation measurement in fundamental and applied physics. By numerically simulating the alkali-metal--nuclear--nuclear trispin dynamics, we investigate the dependence of gyroscope response on alkali-metal spin relaxation time and nuclear spin magnetization. We found additional resonance peaks appear due to a new source of instability, namely, the inherent multistability of trispin dynamics. The numerical simulation results agree well with the recent experiment, enabling a better understanding and exploitation of the gyroscope signal.
We describe a nuclear spin gyroscope based on an alkali-metal--noble-gas comagnetometer. Optically pumped alkali-metal vapor is used to polarize the noble-gas atoms and detect their gyroscopic precession. Spin precession due to magnetic fields as well as their gradients and transients can be cancelled in this arrangement. The sensitivity is enhanced by using a high-density alkali-metal vapor in a spin-exchange relaxation free regime. With a $\mathrm{K}\mathrm{\text{\ensuremath{-}}}^{3}\mathrm{He}$ comagnetometer we demonstrate rotation sensitivity of $5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}7}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{rad}\text{ }{\mathrm{s}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}\text{ }{\mathrm{Hz}}^{\ensuremath{-}1/2}$, equivalent to a magnetic field sensitivity of 2.5  fT/Hz1/22.5\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{fT}/{\mathrm{Hz}}^{1/2}2.5  fT/Hz1/2. The rotation signal can be increased by a factor of 10 using 21Ne^{21}\mathrm{Ne}21Ne with a smaller magnetic moment. The comagnetometer is also a promising tool in searches for anomalous spin couplings beyond the standard model.
Nuclear magnetic resonance gyroscopes (NMRGs) employ noble-gas nuclear spins as inertial sensors and alkali-metal atoms as in-situ magnetometers. Heavy noble gases, particularly xenon, are widely used due to their large nuclear spin and strong spin-exchange coupling with alkali-metal atoms. However, their presence introduces additional collisional mechanisms that affect the alkali-metal magnetic resonance linewidth, thereby influencing magnetometer sensitivity and overall gyro performance. In this work, we develop a theoretical framework based on the density matrix formalism and master equation approach to quantitatively study how xenon-induced two-body and three-body interactions modify the linewidth of alkali-metal atoms under realistic NMRG conditions. Our analysis reveals that Xe atoms primarily broaden the linewidth via binary spindestruction collisions and van der Waals (vdW)-mediated F-damping processes, while the effect of Xe nuclear polarization is negligible at the ~1% level. We further demonstrate that nitrogen buffer gas plays a dual role: it directly contributes to alkali-metal spin relaxation through binary collisions and indirectly modulates vdW collision rates by altering molecular lifetimes. The interplay between these processes leads to an optimal nitrogen density that minimizes the linewidth. Additionally, we identify a temperature threshold above which light-narrowing emerges, with this threshold increasing alongside Xe density. These findings provide theoretical insight for optimizing spin relaxation control in alkali-metal magnetometers and improving NMRG performance.
Abstract Nuclear magnetic resonance gyroscopes (NMRGs) employ noble-gas nuclear spins as inertial sensors and alkali-metal atoms as in-situ magnetometers. Heavy noble gases, particularly xenon, are widely used due to their long nuclear spin relaxation time and strong spin-exchange coupling with alkali-metal atoms. However, their presence introduces additional collisional mechanisms that affect the alkali-metal magnetic resonance linewidth, thereby influencing magnetometer sensitivity and overall gyro performance. In this work, we employ a theoretical framework based on the density matrix formalism and master equation approach to quantitatively study how xenon-induced two-body and three-body interactions modify the linewidth of alkali-metal atoms under realistic NMRG conditions. Our analysis reveals that Xe atoms primarily broaden the linewidth via binary spin-destruction collisions and van der Waals (vdW)-mediated F-damping processes, while the effect of Xe nuclear polarization is negligible at the ∼ 1 % level. We further demonstrate that nitrogen buffer gas plays a dual role: it directly contributes to alkali-metal spin relaxation through binary collisions and indirectly modulates vdW collision rates by altering molecular lifetimes. The interplay between these processes leads to an optimal nitrogen density that minimizes the linewidth. Additionally, we identify a temperature threshold above which light-narrowing emerges, with this threshold increasing alongside Xe density. These findings provide theoretical insight for optimizing spin relaxation control in alkali-metal magnetometers and improving NMRG performance.
We describe a dual-axis atomic spin gyroscope based on an alkali metal-noble gas comagnetometer. Alkali metal vapor is optically pumped, and then the noble gas is hyperpolarized along the z axis. When sensing a transverse rotation, the polarized noble gas will be induced to precess and produce an effective magnetic field in the x – y plane for alkali metals to precess under. Operating in the spin-exchange relaxation-free regime, alkali atoms are modulated by the z axis magnetic field and serve as an integrated in-situ dual-axis magnetometer to detect the gyroscopic precession in the x and y axes simultaneously, using a single probe beam. By using the parametric modulation technique, the low frequency drift is effectively suppressed and a bias instability of less than 0.05 deg/h has been achieved in our dual-axis atomic spin gyroscope.
Alkali metal-noble gas comagnetometers operated in the regime of spin-exchange relaxation-free (SERF) have been widely used in fundamental physics tests and rotation sensing as gyroscope. Spin-exchange relaxation is an important systematic bias of the comagnetometer, which could limit sensitivity significantly. However, the suppression effect of the spin-exchange relaxation has not been examined quantitatively so far. Herein, we systematically investigate the relaxation of the alkali metal atoms and find that the spin-exchange relaxation is not completely eliminated under the normal operating condition of the K-Rb-21Ne comagnetometer. In addition to the optical pumping rate, the spin-exchange relaxation still plays a dominant role in the broadening of electron Zeeman resonances due to the large electron magnetic field. This is the first demonstration that the alkali metal atoms are operated in the near-SERF regime in the alkali metal-noble gas comagnetometer with a large election magnetic field, which will shed light on the way to reduce the relaxation of the alkali metal atoms and enhance the sensitivity of the comagnetometer.
A nuclear spin gyroscope based on an alkali-metal–noble-gas co-magnetometer operated in spin-exchange relaxation-free (SERF) regime is a promising atomic rotation sensor for its ultra-high fundamental sensitivity. However, the fluctuation of probe light intensity is one of the main technical error sources that limits the bias stability of the gyroscope. Here we propose a novel method to suppress the bias error induced by probe light intensity fluctuations. This method is based on the inherent magnetic field response characteristics of the gyroscope. By the application of a bias magnetic field, the gyroscope can be tuned to a working point where the output signal is insensitive to probe light intensity variation, referred to herein as ‘zero point’, thus the bias error induced by intensity fluctuations can be completely suppressed. The superiority of the method was verified on a K–Rb–21Ne co-magnetometer, and a bias stability of approximately 0.01 °/h was obtained. In addition, the method proposed here can remove the requirement of the closed-loop control of probe light intensity, thereby facilitating miniaturization of the gyroscope volume and improvement of reliability.