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Applied Physics Letters

High resolution magnetic vector-field imaging with cold atomic ensembles

Marco Koschorreck, M. Napolitano, B. Dubost, Morgan W. Mitchell

Published Feb 14, 2011• 43 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We present a magnetic field imaging technique based on spatially resolved detection of Larmor precession. An optically trapped, elongated, and cold atomic sample of rubidium serves as magnetic field probe. We detect Larmor precession with a spatial and a temporal resolution of ∼50μm and ∼120μs, respectively. Projection-noise limited absorption imaging, feasible with current technologies, implies a sensitivity of ∼10pT/Hz at 50μm resolution; addition of an optical lattice could give ∼300fT/Hz sensitivity.

DOI
10.1063/1.3555459

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We present a magnetic field imaging technique based on spatially resolved detection of Larmor precession. An optically trapped, elongated, and cold atomic sample of rubidium serves as magnetic field probe. We detect Larmor precession with a spatial and a temporal resolution of ∼50μm and ∼120μs, respectively. Projection-noise limited absorption imaging, feasible with current technologies, implies a sensitivity of ∼10pT/Hz at 50μm resolution; addition of an optical lattice could give ∼300fT/Hz sensitivity.
We describe and demonstrate how 3D magnetic field alignment can be inferred from single absorption images of an atomic cloud. While optically pumped magnetometers conventionally rely on temporal measurement of the Larmor precession of atomic dipoles, here a cold atomic vapor provides a spatial interface between vector light and external magnetic fields. Using a vector vortex beam, we inscribe structured atomic spin polarization in a cloud of cold rubidium atoms and record images of the resulting absorption patterns. The polar angle of an external magnetic field can then be deduced with spatial Fourier analysis. This effect presents an alternative concept for detecting magnetic vector fields and demonstrates, more generally, how introducing spatial phases between atomic energy levels can translate transient effects to the spatial domain.
We demonstrate a precise magnetic microscope based on direct imaging of the Larmor precession of a 87Rb^{87}\mathrm{Rb}87Rb spinor Bose-Einstein condensate. This magnetometer attains a field sensitivity of 8.3  pT/Hz1/28.3\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{pT}/{\mathrm{Hz}}^{1/2}8.3  pT/Hz1/2 over a measurement area of $120\text{ }\text{ }\ensuremath{\mu}{\mathrm{m}}^{2}$, an improvement over the low-frequency field sensitivity of modern SQUID magnetometers. The achieved phase sensitivity is close to the atom shot-noise limit, estimated as 0.15  pT/Hz1/20.15\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{pT}/{\mathrm{Hz}}^{1/2}0.15  pT/Hz1/2 for a unity duty cycle measurement, suggesting the possibilities of spatially resolved spin-squeezed magnetometry. This magnetometer marks a significant application of degenerate atomic gases to metrology.
We demonstrate a sensitive spatially resolved magnetometer using a spinor Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of 87Rb^{87}\mathrm{Rb}87Rb atoms with increased probe fluence. By performing a probe parameter search using a two-polarization phase contrast imaging technique, we find that the probe-induced atom loss, a major constraint in optical magnetometry with high-density gas, can be reduced. We attain a sensitivity of 5.4(6) mrad for the phase measurement of Larmor precession using a measurement area of $1.4\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{2}\phantom{\rule{3.33333pt}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\mu}{\mathrm{m}}^{2}$ with a probe fluence of $4.1\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{5}\phantom{\rule{3.33333pt}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\mu}{\mathrm{m}}^{\ensuremath{-}2}$. A dc magnetic field sensitivity of 5.0(4)pT/Hz5.0(4)\phantom{\rule{3.33333pt}{0ex}}\mathrm{pT}/\sqrt{\mathrm{Hz}}5.0(4)pT/Hz​ is attained with a probe fluence of $3.9\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{5}\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\mu}{\mathrm{m}}^{\ensuremath{-}2}$. The results should contribute to further enhancement of the sensitivity of a BEC magnetometer.
In recent years, sensors based on hot atomic vapor cells have emerged as a compact and highly sensitive means of measuring magnetic fields. Such sensors have been deployed in the field for the measurement of, e.g., biological systems, representing a promising practical application of quantum technologies. However, it remains challenging to obtain high-resolution magnetic field images from these sensors, and in most cases, the spatial resolution of the system is limited by the sensor size. Here, we demonstrate the combination of single-pixel imaging (SPI) techniques with an atom vapor Faraday magnetometer to achieve microscopic magnetic field imaging. We demonstrate magnetic field imaging with a spatial resolution of ≈ 62.5 μm, limited only by the resolution of our digital micromirror device projection system and the absence of magnetic shielding in our experimental setup.
This paper reports on a fast, nondestructive and sensitive measurement technique that uses atomic spin precession and non-destructive Faraday rotation probing to measure all three components of the magnetic field with kHz bandwidth. In contrast to other vector magnetometer techniques that modulate an applied magnetic field, here the initial atomic polarization is modulated and the magnetic field components are extracted from the resulting free-induction decay (FID) signal, monitored via paramagnetic Faraday rotation. An ensemble of up to 106cold87Rb in the F = 1 hyperfine ground state was used and held in an optical trap as the field sensor.
Polarization-dependent phase-contrast imaging is used to resolve the spatial magnetization profile of an optically trapped ultracold gas. This probe is applied to Larmor precession of degenerate and nondegenerate spin-1 87Rb gases. Transverse magnetization of the Bose-Einstein condensate persists for the condensate lifetime, with a spatial response to magnetic field inhomogeneities consistent with a mean-field model of interactions. In comparison, the magnetization of the non-condensed gas decoheres rapidly. Rotational symmetry implies that the Larmor frequency of a spinor condensate be density independent, and thus suitable for precise magnetometry with high spatial resolution.