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IEEE Electronic Components and Technology Conference (ECTC)

Micro-Fabricated SERF Atomic Magnetometer for Weak Gradient Magnetic Field Detection

Xiang Yue, Jintang Shang, Chen Ye

Published May 1, 2019• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Weak gradient magnetic field detection is significant. This paper presents a novel micro-fabricated spin-exchange-relaxation-free (SERF) atomic magnetometer for weak gradient magnetic field detection, and the atomic vapor cell is fabricated by micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) technology. Compared to the single-channel magnetometer, the novel magnetometer's signal-to-noise ratio has increased by 3.63 times. The magnetic field gradient noise of the novel magnetometer reaches 45.33 fToHz-1/2ocm-1in the frequency range of 8 to 15 Hz, and the novel magnetometer has a CMRR (common mode rejection ratio) of 6.1. At the same time, the relationship between the magnitude of the magnetic field gradient and the peak of the dispersive signal has been verified, which provides an idea for the detection of weak gradient magnetic field.

DOI
10.1109/ectc.2019.00085

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Weak gradient magnetic field detection is significant. This paper presents a novel micro-fabricated spin-exchange-relaxation-free (SERF) atomic magnetometer for weak gradient magnetic field detection, and the atomic vapor cell is fabricated by micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) technology. Compared to the single-channel magnetometer, the novel magnetometer's signal-to-noise ratio has increased by 3.63 times. The magnetic field gradient noise of the novel magnetometer reaches 45.33 fToHz-1/2ocm-1in the frequency range of 8 to 15 Hz, and the novel magnetometer has a CMRR (common mode rejection ratio) of 6.1. At the same time, the relationship between the magnitude of the magnetic field gradient and the peak of the dispersive signal has been verified, which provides an idea for the detection of weak gradient magnetic field.
This paper introduces measurement of weak magnetic field using a novel design of chip-scale Spin Exchange Relaxation Free (SERF) atomic magnetometer based on a microfabricated Rubidium (Rb) vapor cell. The sensor, which integrates a micro-fabricated Rb vapor cell, a heater and related components, is fabricated by stacking printed circuit boards (PCB) and Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) process technology. During the experiments, the noise of the measurement using the atomic magnetometer was obtained. In addition, a test of the simulated magnetic field was performed in a shielding cylinder, and the signal of the simulated magnetic field about 100 pT at 1.2 Hz was measured. The signal is processed by the software using a notch filter to suppress the Direct Current (DC) noise and 50Hz noise. This paper provides a novel micro-fabricated device for detecting weak magnetic field.
With the continuous improvement of weak magnetic detection technology, there has been a growing trend towards more compact and integrated magnetometer. The SERF magnetometer and the Mz magnetometer have many common features in operation. Therefore, we design a new kind of miniaturized atomic sensors to integrate the SERF magnetometer and the Mz magnetometer based on micro-fabricated alkali vapor cell. The sensor structure consists of alkali vapor cell, three-axis magnetic field coils, heating module and optical module. This small size sensor has the potential to achieve a portable multi-function device.
Ultra-sensitive multi-channel optically pumped atomic magnetometers based on the spin-exchange relaxation-free (SERF) effect are powerful tools for applications in the field of magnetic imaging. To simultaneously achieve ultra-high spatial resolution and ultra-high magnetic field sensitivity, we proposed a high-resolution multi-channel SERF atomic magnetometer for two-dimensional magnetic field measurements based on a digital micro-mirror device (DMD) as the spatial light modulator for a single vapor cell. Under the optimal experimental conditions obtained via spatial and temporal modulation of the probe light, we first demonstrated that the average sensitivity of the proposed 25-channel magnetometer was approximately 25fT/Hz 1/2 with a spatial resolution of 216µm. Then, we measured the magnetic field distribution generated by a gradient coil and compared the experimentally obtained distributions with those calculated via finite element simulation. The obtained g value of 99.2% indicated good agreement between our experimental results and the theoretical calculations, thereby confirming that our proposed multi-channel SERF magnetometer was effective at measuring magnetic field distributions with an ultra-high spatial resolution.
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.
Magnetic field gradients interfere with the coherence of the atomic ensemble and degrade the performance of the spin-exchange relaxation-free (SERF) atomic magnetometer. In this paper, the influence of magnetic field gradients is incorporated into the response model of single-beam atomic magnetometer, and the theoretical models of transverse relaxation rate, spin polarization and scale factor are established. Based on this model,we find that magnetic field gradients in different directions can cause varying degrees of degradation in the performance parameters of the magnetometer. The magnetic linewidths under different light power and magnetic field gradients are measured using the designed dedicated magnetic field gradients coils, and the spin polarization and magnetic field gradients relaxation rate are obtained through fitting. An unevenness and deviation of the curve are also observed in the experiments, indicating the presence of the magnetic field gradient of approximately 2 nT/cm in the magnetic shields. Furthermore, in a magnetic field gradient environment of 20 nT/cm, the mean of the long-term sensitivity decreased by 3.5 times and the standard deviation increased by 11 times. It shows that the magnetic field gradients will not only affect the signal-to-noise ratio, but also make the magnetometer more vulnerable to external interference when working. The sensitivity and stability of magnetometer will be greatly reduced. The research in this article provides a theoretical and experimental basis for eliminating the influence of magnetic field gradients and improving the accuracy of magnetic field measurements.
Abstract The chip-scale hybrid optical pumping spin-exchange relaxation-free (SERF) atomic magnetometer with a single-beam arrangement has prominent applications in biomagnetic measurements because of its outstanding features, including ultrahigh sensitivity, an enhanced signal-to-noise ratio, homogeneous spin polarization and a much simpler optical configuration than other devices. In this work, a miniaturized single-beam hybrid optical pumping SERF atomic magnetometer based on a microfabricated atomic vapor cell is demonstrated. Although the optically thin Cs atoms are spin-polarized, the dense Rb atoms determine the experimental results. The enhanced signal strength and narrowed resonance linewidth are experimentally proven, which shows the superiority of the proposed magnetometer scheme. By using a differential detection scheme, we effectively suppress optical noise with an approximate five-fold improvement. Moreover, the cell temperature markedly affects the performance of the magnetometer. We systematically investigate the effects of temperature on the magnetometer parameters. The theoretical basis for these effects is explained in detail. The developed miniaturized magnetometer has an optimal magnetic sensitivity of 20 fT/Hz 1/2 . The presented work provides a foundation for the chip-scale integration of ultrahighly sensitive quantum magnetometers that can be used for forward-looking magnetocardiography (MCG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) applications.