Frontiers of Physics
Magnetic-field-sensitive multi-wave interference
Wenhua Yan, Xudong Ren, Wenjie Xu, Zhong-Kun Hu, Min-Kang Zhou
Abstract
We report an experimental study of magnetic-field-sensitive multi-wave interference, realized in a three-wave RF-atom system. In the F = 1 hyperfine level of the 87Rb 52S1/2 ground state, Ramsey fringes were observed via the spin-selective Raman detection. A decrease in the fringe contrast was observed with increasing free evolution time. The maximum evolution time for observable fringe contrasts was investigated at different atom temperatures, under free-falling and trapped conditions. As the main interest of the Ramsey method, the improvement in magnetic field resolution is observed with an increase of evolution time T up to 3 ms and with the measurement resolution reaching 0.85 nT. This study paves the way for precision magnetic field measurements based on cold atoms.