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IEEE Sensors Journal

SERF Atomic Magnetometer–Recent Advances and Applications: A Review

Jundi Li, Wei Quan, Binquan Zhou, Zhuo Wang, Jixi Lu, Zhaohui Hu, Gang Liu, Jiancheng Fang

Published Aug 6, 2018• 148 citations
Publisher

Abstract

This paper aims to review the technology, developments, and applications of spin exchange relaxation free (SERF) atomic magnetometers. The generalized comparisons between the SERF magnetometer and the other types of weak magnetic sensors are elaborated. Further, the fundamental composition and operational principle of the SERF atomic magnetometer are elucidated. The development history and recent technological developments with respect to several aspects, including the alkali metal vapor source, atom heating method, pump and probe lasers, and magnetic shielding system, are presented. The classification and respective advantages and disadvantages of these technologies are described in detail. Finally, the existing and potential applications, as well as the prospective future development trends are presented.

DOI
10.1109/jsen.2018.2863707

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This paper aims to review the technology, developments, and applications of spin exchange relaxation free (SERF) atomic magnetometers. The generalized comparisons between the SERF magnetometer and the other types of weak magnetic sensors are elaborated. Further, the fundamental composition and operational principle of the SERF atomic magnetometer are elucidated. The development history and recent technological developments with respect to several aspects, including the alkali metal vapor source, atom heating method, pump and probe lasers, and magnetic shielding system, are presented. The classification and respective advantages and disadvantages of these technologies are described in detail. Finally, the existing and potential applications, as well as the prospective future development trends are presented.
In recent years, developments in quantum sensing, laser, and atomic sensor technologies have also enabled advancement in the field of quantum navigation. Atomic-based gyroscopes have emerged as one of the most critical atomic sensors in this respect. In this review, a brief technology statement of spin exchange relaxation free (SERF) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) type atomic comagnetometer gyroscope (CG) is presented. Related studies in the literature have been gathered, and the fundamental compositions of CGs with technical basics are presented. A comparison of SERF and NMR CGs is provided. A basic simulation of SERF CG was carried out because of its high theoretic bias stability limit. Besides, some highly critical challenges for CGs were examined and reported with compensation methods. The objective of this review is to offer a guide for researchers to develop high-precision atomic gyroscopes and to encourage further research.
The spin-exchange relaxation-free (SERF) atomic magnetometer (AM) has vital importance in advanced research and has been widely applied in different fields. To improve the sensitivity and robustness of SERF magnetometers, understanding the relaxation mechanism is a significant approach. By controlling the amplitude and direction of external magnetic fields, and switching statuses of the pump and probe laser beam, we measured both the transverse and longitudinal relaxation rate in two experimental methods, respectively, and obtained the Larmor precession frequency, the spin-exchange relaxation rate, the spin-destruction relaxation rate, and the relaxation rate due to collisions between atoms and vapor cell walls. All experimental results are verified with the theoretical calculations. The final longitudinal relaxation rate of our magnetometer is 53 Hz. Furthermore, we measured the sensitivity of our SERF magnetometer reaching 5 fT/Hz1/2 from 5 to 70 Hz after differential measurement with the 3-dB bandwidth of 70 Hz. Our work helps to improve the detection capability of SERF magnetometers, providing performance assurance for searching for exotic spin-dependent interactions and applications, including magnetoencephalograms and magnetocardiograms.
Spin-exchange relaxation-free (SERF) atomic magnetometers are the promising non-cryogenic sensors to potentially replace the superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) in the ultra-weak magnetic-field measurements. Although the SERF magnetometers have achieved a sensitivity of sub-femtotesla, the bandwidth is limited at a narrow range. In this work, we developed a closed-loop SERF magnetometer under proportional-integral (PI) control, the bandwidth could be adaptively tuned and extended above 1.2 kHz. A nearly 40-fold enhancement of the typical bandwidth was achieved in comparison with the open-loop system and the sensitivity was maintained at 15 fT/Hz1/2from 30 Hz to 750 Hz. Moreover, the magnetic field dynamic range could also be greatly improved. This proposed atomic magnetometer with higher bandwidth, sensitivity, and dynamic range has a good prospect in developing a compact, portable, and non-cryogenic magnetic field sensor and may find more applications in biomedical, nuclear magnetic resonance, and fundamental physics research.
The spin-exchange relaxation-free (SERF) atomic magnetometer is one of the ultra-sensitive magnetometers, which must be operated in a low magnetic field and heated more than 100°C. One of the main engineering difficulties in fabricating a SERF atomic magnetometer is to develop a heater that introduces no additional magnetic noise into the measurement system. In this paper, a novel compact current-heating scheme and apparatus for the SERF atomic magnetometer are proposed. The thermal and magnetic simulations of this apparatus are carried out and the results of the simulations demonstrate the feasibility of this heating apparatus: the vapor cell can be heated to a temperature of 103°C and magnetic field introduced in the magnetometer can be limited in 10nT.
High precision measurement of magnetic fields has been of great importance for both fundamental physics and practical applications. Magnetometers based on atomic spin effect provide a new technique for high precision measurement and have been enabled as the most sensitive magnetic sensors at present. However, the atomic spins used as probes to sense the magnetic fields are prone to the decoherence effects. For the atomic spin-exchange relaxation free (SERF) magnetometer which operates with high alkali atoms density in very low magnetic fields, the main relaxation mechanism is the spin-destruction collisions between atoms. In this paper, it is demonstrated by numerical simulations that the precision of the atomic SERF magnetometer is significantly affected by this spin-destruction collisions.