Journal of Physics D Applied Physics
High bandwidth three-axis magnetometer based on optically polarized 85 Rb under unshielded environment
Hongying Yang, Ke Zhang, Yanhua Wang, Nan Zhao
Abstract
Abstract In this paper, we demonstrate a three-axis atomic magnetometer based on parametric oscillations, which can measure the three magnetic field components simultaneously and independently. A circularly polarized pump beam is applied to create the spin polarization, and another linearly polarized probe beam is used to detect the dynamics of the polarized spin under a magnetic field. With a closed-loop system to keep the magnetic field in resonance with the atoms, three components of magnetic field are measured by their feedback signals. We achieve a magnetometer sensitivity of 6 pT ( ) −1 , 25 pT ( ) −1 , and 60 pT ( ) −1 along three axes in the frequency range from 100 Hz to 1 kHz with a bandwidth better than 1 kHz under an unshielded environment. Furthermore, this magnetometer is free of optical modulation, which reduces the complexity of experimental setups. The methods we present here provide a prototype all-electrical three-axis atomic magnetometer.