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Optics Express

Light intensity stabilization based on the second harmonic of the photoelastic modulator detection in the atomic magnetometer

Lihong Duan, Jiancheng Fang, Rujie Li, Liwei Jiang, Ming Ding, Wei Wang

Published Dec 9, 2015• 70 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The fluctuations of the probe light intensity seriously affect the performance of the sensitive atomic magnetometer. Here we propose a novel method for the intensity stabilization based on the second harmonic component of the photoelastic modulator (PEM) detection in the atomic magnetometer. The method not only could be used to eliminate the intensity fluctuations of the laser source, but also remove the fluctuations from the optical components caused by the environment. A relative fluctuation of the light intensity of 0.035% was achieved and the corresponding fluctuation of the output signal of the atomic magnetometer has decreased about two orders of magnitude from 4.06% to 0.041%. As the scheme proposed here only contains optical devices and does not require additional feedback controlled equipments, it is especially suitable for the integration of the atomic magnetometer.

DOI
10.1364/oe.23.032481

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The fluctuations of the probe light intensity seriously affect the performance of the sensitive atomic magnetometer. Here we propose a novel method for the intensity stabilization based on the second harmonic component of the photoelastic modulator (PEM) detection in the atomic magnetometer. The method not only could be used to eliminate the intensity fluctuations of the laser source, but also remove the fluctuations from the optical components caused by the environment. A relative fluctuation of the light intensity of 0.035% was achieved and the corresponding fluctuation of the output signal of the atomic magnetometer has decreased about two orders of magnitude from 4.06% to 0.041%. As the scheme proposed here only contains optical devices and does not require additional feedback controlled equipments, it is especially suitable for the integration of the atomic magnetometer.
The frequency drifts of the probe laser could be coupled into the calibrated scale factor of the optically pumped magnetometer (OPM) and induce an error of the measurement accuracy. We propose a method to reduce the far off-resonance laser frequency drifts based on the second harmonic of the electro-optic modulator (EOM) detection system in the all-optical K-Rb hybrid pumping magnetometer. Adopting the closed-loop feedback by monitoring the second-harmonic component in real time, the frequency drift of the probe laser has been effectively reduced by about five times to ∼30 MHz/0.5 h at the detuning of 130 GHz and the cell temperature of 443 K. Besides, this technique has been demonstrated to be helpful for reducing the frequency drifts at different detuning points and temperatures. This method is not only suitable for the development of more compact, high-sensitivity OPMs due to the long-term stability improvement with no extra optical path, but also can be applied to other atomic devices and EOM detection systems for reducing the influence of the laser.
Zero-field single-beam atomic magnetometers with transverse parametric modulation for ultra-weak magnetic field detection have attracted widespread attention recently. In this study, we present a comprehensive response model and propose a modification method of conventional first harmonic response by introducing the second harmonic correction. The proposed modification method gives improvement in dynamic range and reduction of linearity error. Additionally, our modification method shows suppression of response instability caused by optical intensity and frequency fluctuations. An atomic magnetometer with single-beam configuration is built to compare the performance between our proposed method and the conventional method. The results indicate that our method’s magnetic field response signal achieves a 5-fold expansion of dynamic range from 2 nT to 10 nT, with the linearity error decreased from 5% to 1%. Under the fluctuations of 5% for optical intensity and ±15 GHz detuning of frequency, the proposed modification method maintains intensity-related instability less than 1% and frequency-related instability less than 8% while the conventional method suffers 15% and 38%, respectively. Our method is promising for future high-sensitive and long-term stable optically pumped atomic sensors.
Optical rotation of linearly polarized light is used to measure atom spin precession in an atomic spin gyroscope (ASG). However, the common-mode noise in the polarization measurement seriously affects the performance of the sensitive ASG. Here we propose an optical differential detection method based on the photoelastic polarization modulation, which could effectively eliminate the light power fluctuation of the laser source and optical elements, while removing the polarization noise and the residual birefringence. The feasibility and efficiency of this method have been verified experimentally. The rotation sensitivity of the ASG is an order of magnitude better, and the long-time stability is significantly improved. In addition, this method is easier to implement because noise sources do not need to be strictly distinguished.
Utilizing the Zeeman Faraday effect in atomic vapor cells, a novel setup is introduced both for laser intensity stabilization and laser intensity modulation. The method is based on the closed loop control of the polarization rotation angle of the laser light in an atomic vapor cell for adjustment of the laser intensity. Characterizing the implemented setup, it is shown that more than 30 dB attenuation of the optical fluctuation is achieved in the frequency range from DC to 1 kHz. Meanwhile, the laser intensity could be efficiently locked to a modulating voltage signal, which results in amplitude modulation of the laser beam. We believe that this simple method could be effectively used in different atomic physics experiments, including the stabilization of the laser intensity in applications where near resonance frequency sweeping is required or applications that contain optical modulation of lasers in lock-in detection schemes.
The stability of laser intensity has important significance for a spin-exchange-relaxation-free (SERF) atomic spin gyroscope. The fluctuation of pump-beam intensity results in the instability of the spin polarization. The background noise level is greatly influenced by the probe-beam intensity stability. In this paper, a liquid crystal variable retarder (LCVR) based laser intensity stabilization control system has been designed for a SERF atomic gyroscope. The probe-beam optical path is composed of two parallel linear polarizers, a LCVR, a photoelastic modulator (PEM) module, a non-polarizing beam splitter (NPBS) and a photodiode. A small fraction of laser intensity is split by the NPBS and detected by the photodiode. Then the signal is fed into the electronic control unit (ECU), which can generate a control signal by the digital controller and drive the LCVR to control the laser intensity. The pump-beam intensity is controlled by the fundamental component of LCVR module. In our experiments, the long-term stability of the laser intensity achieves 0.0084% (of the standard deviation) in a 4hour measurement. This method can effectively shorten the optical path and improve the stability of our gyroscope.
Quantum manipulation technology and photoelectric detection technology have jointly facilitated the rapid development of ultra-sensitive atomic spin magnetometers. To improve the output signal and sensitivity of the spin-exchange-relaxation-free (SERF) atomic spin magnetometer, the noises influencing on the output signal and the sensitivity were analyzed, and the corresponding noise suppression methods were presented. The magnetic field noises, including the residual magnetic field noise and the light shift noise, were reduced to approximately zero by employing the magnetic field compensation method and by adjusting the frequency of the pump beam, respectively. With respect to the operation temperature, the simulation results showed that the temperature of the potassium atomic spin magnetometer realizing the spin-exchange relaxation-free regime was 180 °C. Moreover, the fluctuation noises of the frequency and the power were suppressed by using the frequency and the power stable systems. The experimental power stability results showed that the light intensity stability was enhanced 10%. Contrast experiments on the sensitivity were carried out to demonstrate the validity of the suppression methods. Finally, a sensitivity of 13 fT/Hz(1/2) was successfully achieved by suppressing noises and optimizing parameters.