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IEEE photonics journal

Suppression Method of AC-Stark Shift in SERF Atomic Magnetometer

Yang Li, Ming Ding, Xuejing Liu, Hongwei Cai, Junpeng Zhao, Jiancheng Fang

Published Sep 27, 2018• 21 citations
Publisher

Abstract

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.

DOI
10.1109/jphot.2018.2872026

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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.
The light shift in a spin-exchange relaxation-free (SERF) atomic magnetometer (AM) generated by detuning of circularly polarized pump light, results in deviations of orthogonality measurement and attenuation of magnetometer response. In this paper, we propose and systematically investigate a dual-axis method to suppress light shift based on a self-developed single-beam compact SERF AM capable of measuring magnetic field components along two orthogonal sensitive axes. By sequentially observing the non-sensitive axis response and applying a magnetic field along the pump light direction, the virtual magnetic field induced by light shift is compensated and is rigorously demonstrated as a dominant component in this direction. Experimental results show a significant reduction in crosstalk between the dual sensitive axes, improving accuracy in resonant frequency determination of87Rb atoms and orthogonality evaluation of triaxial coils. Furthermore, the performance of dual-axis measurement in the SERF AM is tested, showing a more notable enhancement than that of single-axis measurement.
The light shift generated by the circularly polarized light leads to an error in the spin-exchange relaxation-free (SERF) comagnetometer, since it turns the fluctuations of the pumping light frequency and intensity into a drift in the SERF comagnetometer. Moreover, the light shift is a source of cross-talk effect between the two sensitive axes. Firstly, the relationship between the vapor cell temperature and the total light shift felt by Rb atoms in the K-Rb hybrid pumping SERF comagnetometer is formulated and simulated. It is found that the total light shift is the result of the collision mixing of K and Rb ac Stark shifts and the increase of cell temperature makes the light shift of K felt by Rb dominate the total light shift. Furthermore, different from the method of adjusting the frequency of laser, a new method that suppresses the total light shift in hybrid pumping by adjusting the cell temperature is proposed and experimentally verified. The total light shift at 165.7°C is -0.00152 nT experimentally, which is 3 orders of magnitude smaller than that at 185.0°C, indicating that it can be suppressed effectively by adjusting the cell temperature. The method does not require any extra hardware or sacrifice the pumping efficiency and can be applied to suppress the error induced by the pumping light and the cross-talk effect between the axes. In addition, the relationship between total relaxation rate and cell temperature is briefly discussed.
The transverse light-shift can induce non-negligible polarization error in the output signal of spin-exchange relaxation-free (SERF) co-magnetometer. In this paper, a novel method for rapid measurement of transverse light-shift based on the error of steady-state response of co-magnetometer is proposed firstly, then the sources of transverse light-shift in a compact SERF co-magnetometer is modeled and analyzed from three aspects: the non-ideal linear polarization of probe laser, the circular dichroism of the atomic spin ensembles, and the stress-induced birefringence effect of the cell wall. Furthermore, the decoupling and suppression methods of transverse light-shift based on a degree of circular polarization (DOCP) regulation scheme is presented, to realize the decoupling measurement of the transverse light-shift introduced by the whole co-magnetometer cell, and cancel it out with the non-ideal linear polarization of the probe laser. Eventually, the DOCP regulation scheme suggested in this paper achieves more than a 67% suppression ratio in transverse light-shift, and the short- and long-term performance of SERF co-magnetometer are improved due to the reduction of the coupling effect between the probe laser power and transverse field. Moreover, the measurement, decoupling and suppression methods provided in this paper also have the potential to be applied to other atomic sensors, such as the SERF magnetometers and nuclear spin co-magnetometers.
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.
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.