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Scientific Reports

Spin exchange broadening of magnetic resonance lines in a high-sensitivity rotating K-Rb-21Ne co-magnetometer

Yao Chen, Wei Quan, Sheng Zou, Yan Wu Lu, Lihong Duan, Yang Li, Hong Zhang, Ming Ding, Jiancheng Fang

Published Nov 10, 2016• 72 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract Atomic co-magnetometers can be utilized for high-precision angular velocity sensing or fundamental physics tests. The sensitivity of a co-magnetometer determines the angle random walk of an angular velocity sensor and the detection limit for a fundamental physics test. A high-sensitivity K-Rb-21Ne co-magnetometer, which is utilized for angular velocity sensing, is presented in this paper. A new type of spin relaxation of Rb atom spins, which can broaden the zero-field magnetic resonance lines of the co-magnetometer, is discovered. Further studies show that the spin relaxation of Rb atoms is caused by a high Rb electron magnetization field. With this discovery, the total relaxation rate of Rb atoms is optimized to improve the sensitivity of the co-magnetometer. Moreover, its sensitivity is optimized by suppressing various noises. Especially, to suppress laser-related noises, the co-magnetometer is designed such that the sensitive axis of the co-magnetometer can be fixed to the direction in which the projection input of the earth’s rotation is 0. This is called a rotating co-magnetometer. A magnetic field sensitivity of 1.0 fT/Hz−1/2@5 Hz, which is equal to an angular velocity sensitivity of 2.1 × 10−8 rad s−1 Hz−1/2@5 Hz, is demonstrated using a spherical vapour cell with a diameter of 14 mm.

DOI
10.1038/srep36547

Related papers

The polarization and the fundamental sensitivity of $^{39}$K ($^{133}$Cs)-$^{85}$Rb-$^{21}$Ne co-magnetometer

Jianhua Liu, Dong-Yang Jing, Lin Zhuang +3 more

We have studied the polarization of the 85Rb and the fundamental sensitivity of two types of hybrid optical pumping spin exchange relaxation free (SERF) co-magnetometers based on 39K-85Rb-21Ne and 133Cs-85Rb-21Ne with taking the wall relaxation rate into account,which has a big effect on the polarization and fundamental sensitivity,but it is often neglected in the experiments,respectively.The polarization of the 85Rb varies with the thirteen systemic parameters: the number density of buffer gas 21Ne and quench gas N2,frequency rate of pump beam,cell temperature,the photon number flux,mole fraction of 85Rb,cell effective radius,pump beam spot radius,power density of pump beam,input rotation velocity in the x and y direction,external magnetic field in the y and z direction,respectively.The number density of the 21Ne,photon number flux,pump beam spot radius and frequency rate will affect the polarization of the 85Rb greatly by affecting the the pumping rate of pump beam,a magnetic field produced by 85Rb atom spins and experienced by the 21Ne spins.We obtain a general formula on the fundamental sensitivity of the hybrid optical pumping SERF co-magnetometers due to shot-noise,where the fundamental sensitivity varies with the twelve systemic parameters: the number density of buffer gas and quench gas,frequency rate of pump beam,photon number flux,mole fraction of 85Rb,cell effective radius,pump beam spot radius,power density of pump beam,external magnetic field,measurement volume,cell temperature and measurement time.The highest fundamental sensitivity $7.5878\times10^{-11}$ $rad/s/Hz^{1/2}$ of 133Cs-85Rb-21Ne co-magnetometer is higher than the ultimate theoretical sensitivity $2\times10^{-10}$ $rad/s/Hz^{1/2}$ of K-21Ne co-magnetometer.The fundamental sensitivity limit of the hybrid optical pumping SERF co-magnetometers is superior to $3.7334\times10^{-12}$ $rad/s/Hz^{1/2}$.

•Nov 5, 2018•0 citations

Polarization and fundamental sensitivity of 39K (133Cs)–85Rb–21Ne co-magnetometers*

Jianhua Liu, Dong-Yang Jing, Lin Zhuang +3 more

The hybrid optical pumping spin exchange relaxation free (HOPSERF) atomic co-magnetometers make ultrahigh sensitivity measurement of inertia achievable. The wall relaxation rate has a big effect on the polarization and fundamental sensitivity for the co-magnetometer, but it is often neglected in the experiments. However, there is almost no work about the systematic analysis of the influence factors on the polarization and the fundamental sensitivity of the HOPSERF co-magnetometers. Here we systematically study the polarization and the fundamental sensitivity of 39K–85Rb–21Ne and 133Cs–85Rb–21Ne HOPSERF co-magnetometers with low polarization limit and the wall relaxation rate. The 21Ne number density, the power density and wavelength of pump beam will affect the polarization greatly by affecting the pumping rate of the pump beam. We obtain a general formula on the fundamental sensitivity of the HOPSERF co-magnetometers due to shot-noise and the fundamental sensitivity changes with multiple systemic parameters, where the suitable number density of buffer gas and quench gas make the fundamental sensitivity highest. The fundamental sensitivity 7.5355×10–11 rad·s–1·Hz–1/2 of 133Cs–85Rb–21Ne co-magnetometer is higher than the ultimate theoretical sensitivity 2×10–10 rad·s–1·Hz–1/2 of K–21Ne co-magnetometer.

Chinese Physics B•Mar 9, 2020•2 citations

Suppression of Low-Frequency Magnetic Drift Based on Magnetic Field Sensitivity in K-Rb-21Ne Atomic Spin Comagnetometer

Ye Liu, Wenfeng Fan, Yang Fu +3 more

A spin-exchange relaxation-free comagnetometer is a promising high-precision gyroscope as its inertial measurement sensitivity can rival that of existing technologies. The magnetic field error is one of the main factors that limits the long-term stability of the comagnetometer. The steady-state response and frequency response models of a K-Rb-21Ne comagnetometer are modified by considering the spin-exchange rate between the electron spins and the nuclear spins. The modified models are used to redefine the bias magnetic sensitivity of the K-Rb-21Ne comagnetometer and the suppression method of low-frequency magnetic field error is proposed. We demonstrate the magnetic drift suppression method proposed in the article by optimizing the cell temperature and pump laser power density. This study is helpful to improve the rotation measurement performance of the K-Rb-21Ne comagnetometer.

IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement•Jan 1, 2022•19 citations

Spin-exchange relaxation-free magnetometry using elliptically polarized light

Vishal Shah, Michael V. Romalis

Spin-exchange relaxation free alkali-metal magnetometers typically operate in the regime of high optical density, presenting challenges for simple and efficient optical pumping and detection. We describe a high-sensitivity Rb magnetometer using a single elliptically polarized off-resonant laser beam. Circular component of the light creates relatively uniform spin polarization while the linear component is used to measure optical rotation generated by the atoms. Modulation of the atomic spin direction with an oscillating magnetic field shifts the detected signal to high frequencies. Using a fiber-coupled distributed feedback laser, we achieve magnetic field sensitivity of $7\text{ }\text{fT}/\sqrt{\text{Hz}}$ with a miniature $5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}5\text{ }\text{mm}\text{ }\text{Rb}$ vapor cell.

arXiv:0903.2447•Physical Review A•Jul 24, 2009•273 citations

Spin-Damping in an Ultra-Sensitive Tunable RF Atomic Magnetometer

Orang Alem

Optically pumped radio frequency (RF) atomic magnetometers have been shown to have an improved sensitivity over standard tuned coils for frequencies less than 50 MHz, making these RF magnetometers attractive for the detection of nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) and low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) signals. In an atomic magnetometer a linearly polarized probe beam measures, through Faraday rotation, the transverse atomic magnetization induced by the resonant RF signal. The resonance, or Larmor, frequency of the magnetometer is easily tuned with a small magnetic field. We construct an atomic magnetometer based on a potassium vapor cell with a measured sensitivity of 0.22 ± 0.02 fT/ √ Hz and a detection bandwidth of 334 ± 11 Hz when tuned to 423 kHz, giving a Q of over 1200. While high Q magnetometers are sensitive to weak magnetic fields, they are also sensitive to magnetic transients, such as those associated with the excitation pulses needed for magnetic resonance. The ringing created by such transients can obscure the signal of interest. This is particularly detrimental for magnetic resonance signals that decay faster than the transverse relaxation rate. We demonstrate that by feeding back part of the optical signal to orthogonal electromagnetic coils, this unwanted ringing can be quickly damped out leaving the magnetometer ready for the detection of the signal. This negative feedback as applied to the K spins is called spin-damping and can be used to relax the K atoms faster by more than two orders of magnitude. Using spin-damping we reduce the dead-time before data acquisition from 0.8 to 0.2 ms in the detection of NQR signals from ammonium nitrate, one of the so-called fertilizer bomb explosives with an NQR frequency of 423 kHz. Furthermore, we discover that spin-damping can not only be used to suppress signals, it can also be used to suppress noise. We show that it can be used to suppress both environmental noise and more fundamental quantum noise, such as photon shot and spin projection noise. The latter suppression opens the door for its use in quantum control to initialize spin systems before measurements. For phase-sensitive detection, as is often used in magnetic resonance, spin-damping suppresses signal and noise in such a way as to increase the sensitivity bandwidth of the magnetometer. We prove, both theoretically and experimentally, that it is possible to increase the magnetometer detection bandwidth by a factor of 3 or more without significant loss in sensitivity. Such gains in bandwidth for a high Q magnetometer translate into savings in detection time, particularly for substance detection where the frequency of the signal of interest may not be completely known.

•Aug 18, 2011•1 citation

Closed-loop atomic spin polarization detection based on EOAM modulation in K-Rb-21Ne co-magnetometers

Shimiao Fan, Wenfeng Fan, Qi Yuan +4 more

We propose a high-sensitivity spin polarization detection scheme based on optical amplitude modulation in atomic co-magnetometers, which is different from the traditional configuration.A linearly polarized laser with intensity modulation interacts with electron spins, generating optical rotation angles.Through differential amplification and demodulation, atomic spin polarization information is extracted with high precision.The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by applying external perturbations during testing.Compared to traditional detection methods, the proposed approach effectively enhances inertial measurement sensitivity.Specifically, at 1 Hz, the measurement sensitivity has improved from 9.7 × 10 -6 to 3.25 × 10 -6 deg/(s Hz 1/2 ).Furthermore, the proposed scheme is easily integrable and conducive to future research on miniaturizing co-magnetometers and can also be applied to many other related fields.

Chinese Optics Letters•Jan 1, 2024•4 citations
Abstract Atomic co-magnetometers can be utilized for high-precision angular velocity sensing or fundamental physics tests. The sensitivity of a co-magnetometer determines the angle random walk of an angular velocity sensor and the detection limit for a fundamental physics test. A high-sensitivity K-Rb-21Ne co-magnetometer, which is utilized for angular velocity sensing, is presented in this paper. A new type of spin relaxation of Rb atom spins, which can broaden the zero-field magnetic resonance lines of the co-magnetometer, is discovered. Further studies show that the spin relaxation of Rb atoms is caused by a high Rb electron magnetization field. With this discovery, the total relaxation rate of Rb atoms is optimized to improve the sensitivity of the co-magnetometer. Moreover, its sensitivity is optimized by suppressing various noises. Especially, to suppress laser-related noises, the co-magnetometer is designed such that the sensitive axis of the co-magnetometer can be fixed to the direction in which the projection input of the earth’s rotation is 0. This is called a rotating co-magnetometer. A magnetic field sensitivity of 1.0 fT/Hz−1/2@5 Hz, which is equal to an angular velocity sensitivity of 2.1 × 10−8 rad s−1 Hz−1/2@5 Hz, is demonstrated using a spherical vapour cell with a diameter of 14 mm.
The polarization and the fundamental sensitivity of 39^{39}39K (133^{133}133Cs)-85^{85}85Rb-21^{21}21Ne co-magnetometer
We have studied the polarization of the 85Rb and the fundamental sensitivity of two types of hybrid optical pumping spin exchange relaxation free (SERF) co-magnetometers based on 39K-85Rb-21Ne and 133Cs-85Rb-21Ne with taking the wall relaxation rate into account,which has a big effect on the polarization and fundamental sensitivity,but it is often neglected in the experiments,respectively.The polarization of the 85Rb varies with the thirteen systemic parameters: the number density of buffer gas 21Ne and quench gas N2,frequency rate of pump beam,cell temperature,the photon number flux,mole fraction of 85Rb,cell effective radius,pump beam spot radius,power density of pump beam,input rotation velocity in the x and y direction,external magnetic field in the y and z direction,respectively.The number density of the 21Ne,photon number flux,pump beam spot radius and frequency rate will affect the polarization of the 85Rb greatly by affecting the the pumping rate of pump beam,a magnetic field produced by 85Rb atom spins and experienced by the 21Ne spins.We obtain a general formula on the fundamental sensitivity of the hybrid optical pumping SERF co-magnetometers due to shot-noise,where the fundamental sensitivity varies with the twelve systemic parameters: the number density of buffer gas and quench gas,frequency rate of pump beam,photon number flux,mole fraction of 85Rb,cell effective radius,pump beam spot radius,power density of pump beam,external magnetic field,measurement volume,cell temperature and measurement time.The highest fundamental sensitivity 7.5878×10−117.5878\times10^{-11}7.5878×10−11 rad/s/Hz1/2rad/s/Hz^{1/2}rad/s/Hz1/2 of 133Cs-85Rb-21Ne co-magnetometer is higher than the ultimate theoretical sensitivity 2×10−102\times10^{-10}2×10−10 rad/s/Hz1/2rad/s/Hz^{1/2}rad/s/Hz1/2 of K-21Ne co-magnetometer.The fundamental sensitivity limit of the hybrid optical pumping SERF co-magnetometers is superior to 3.7334×10−123.7334\times10^{-12}3.7334×10−12 rad/s/Hz1/2rad/s/Hz^{1/2}rad/s/Hz1/2.
The hybrid optical pumping spin exchange relaxation free (HOPSERF) atomic co-magnetometers make ultrahigh sensitivity measurement of inertia achievable. The wall relaxation rate has a big effect on the polarization and fundamental sensitivity for the co-magnetometer, but it is often neglected in the experiments. However, there is almost no work about the systematic analysis of the influence factors on the polarization and the fundamental sensitivity of the HOPSERF co-magnetometers. Here we systematically study the polarization and the fundamental sensitivity of 39K–85Rb–21Ne and 133Cs–85Rb–21Ne HOPSERF co-magnetometers with low polarization limit and the wall relaxation rate. The 21Ne number density, the power density and wavelength of pump beam will affect the polarization greatly by affecting the pumping rate of the pump beam. We obtain a general formula on the fundamental sensitivity of the HOPSERF co-magnetometers due to shot-noise and the fundamental sensitivity changes with multiple systemic parameters, where the suitable number density of buffer gas and quench gas make the fundamental sensitivity highest. The fundamental sensitivity 7.5355×10–11 rad·s–1·Hz–1/2 of 133Cs–85Rb–21Ne co-magnetometer is higher than the ultimate theoretical sensitivity 2×10–10 rad·s–1·Hz–1/2 of K–21Ne co-magnetometer.
A spin-exchange relaxation-free comagnetometer is a promising high-precision gyroscope as its inertial measurement sensitivity can rival that of existing technologies. The magnetic field error is one of the main factors that limits the long-term stability of the comagnetometer. The steady-state response and frequency response models of a K-Rb-21Ne comagnetometer are modified by considering the spin-exchange rate between the electron spins and the nuclear spins. The modified models are used to redefine the bias magnetic sensitivity of the K-Rb-21Ne comagnetometer and the suppression method of low-frequency magnetic field error is proposed. We demonstrate the magnetic drift suppression method proposed in the article by optimizing the cell temperature and pump laser power density. This study is helpful to improve the rotation measurement performance of the K-Rb-21Ne comagnetometer.
Spin-exchange relaxation free alkali-metal magnetometers typically operate in the regime of high optical density, presenting challenges for simple and efficient optical pumping and detection. We describe a high-sensitivity Rb magnetometer using a single elliptically polarized off-resonant laser beam. Circular component of the light creates relatively uniform spin polarization while the linear component is used to measure optical rotation generated by the atoms. Modulation of the atomic spin direction with an oscillating magnetic field shifts the detected signal to high frequencies. Using a fiber-coupled distributed feedback laser, we achieve magnetic field sensitivity of 7 fT/Hz7\text{ }\text{fT}/\sqrt{\text{Hz}}7 fT/Hz​ with a miniature $5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}5\text{ }\text{mm}\text{ }\text{Rb}$ vapor cell.
Optically pumped radio frequency (RF) atomic magnetometers have been shown to have an improved sensitivity over standard tuned coils for frequencies less than 50 MHz, making these RF magnetometers attractive for the detection of nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) and low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) signals. In an atomic magnetometer a linearly polarized probe beam measures, through Faraday rotation, the transverse atomic magnetization induced by the resonant RF signal. The resonance, or Larmor, frequency of the magnetometer is easily tuned with a small magnetic field. We construct an atomic magnetometer based on a potassium vapor cell with a measured sensitivity of 0.22 ± 0.02 fT/ √ Hz and a detection bandwidth of 334 ± 11 Hz when tuned to 423 kHz, giving a Q of over 1200. While high Q magnetometers are sensitive to weak magnetic fields, they are also sensitive to magnetic transients, such as those associated with the excitation pulses needed for magnetic resonance. The ringing created by such transients can obscure the signal of interest. This is particularly detrimental for magnetic resonance signals that decay faster than the transverse relaxation rate. We demonstrate that by feeding back part of the optical signal to orthogonal electromagnetic coils, this unwanted ringing can be quickly damped out leaving the magnetometer ready for the detection of the signal. This negative feedback as applied to the K spins is called spin-damping and can be used to relax the K atoms faster by more than two orders of magnitude. Using spin-damping we reduce the dead-time before data acquisition from 0.8 to 0.2 ms in the detection of NQR signals from ammonium nitrate, one of the so-called fertilizer bomb explosives with an NQR frequency of 423 kHz. Furthermore, we discover that spin-damping can not only be used to suppress signals, it can also be used to suppress noise. We show that it can be used to suppress both environmental noise and more fundamental quantum noise, such as photon shot and spin projection noise. The latter suppression opens the door for its use in quantum control to initialize spin systems before measurements. For phase-sensitive detection, as is often used in magnetic resonance, spin-damping suppresses signal and noise in such a way as to increase the sensitivity bandwidth of the magnetometer. We prove, both theoretically and experimentally, that it is possible to increase the magnetometer detection bandwidth by a factor of 3 or more without significant loss in sensitivity. Such gains in bandwidth for a high Q magnetometer translate into savings in detection time, particularly for substance detection where the frequency of the signal of interest may not be completely known.
We propose a high-sensitivity spin polarization detection scheme based on optical amplitude modulation in atomic co-magnetometers, which is different from the traditional configuration.A linearly polarized laser with intensity modulation interacts with electron spins, generating optical rotation angles.Through differential amplification and demodulation, atomic spin polarization information is extracted with high precision.The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by applying external perturbations during testing.Compared to traditional detection methods, the proposed approach effectively enhances inertial measurement sensitivity.Specifically, at 1 Hz, the measurement sensitivity has improved from 9.7 × 10 -6 to 3.25 × 10 -6 deg/(s Hz 1/2 ).Furthermore, the proposed scheme is easily integrable and conducive to future research on miniaturizing co-magnetometers and can also be applied to many other related fields.