Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Journal of the Optical Society of America B

Two-quantum magnetic resonance driven by a periodic RF pulse train

Eugene A. Tsygankov, Maria I. Vaskovskaya, Dmitry S. Chuchelov, Kirill M. Sabakar, Vitali V. Vassiliev, Sergei A. Zibrov

Published Oct 9, 2023• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We theoretically investigate two-quantum magnetic resonance at the end sublevels of the ground state with a total angular momentum F g =1 in application to 87 Rb atoms. In this work, the effect of the elliptically polarized light on the shift of the resonance frequency is studied. Two schemes are compared: when the RF field is harmonic and when a periodic RF pulse train is used. We demonstrate that the latter approach provides a significantly smaller shift, which can be helpful in reducing the heading error in optically pumped magnetometers.

DOI
10.1364/josab.501179

Related papers

Atomic magnetic resonance induced by amplitude-, frequency-, or polarization-modulated light

Z. D. Grujić, Antoine Weis

In recent years diode laser sources have become widespread and reliable tools in magneto-optical spectroscopy. In particular, laser-driven atomic magnetometers have found a wide range of practical applications. More recently, so-called magnetically silent variants of atomic magnetometers have been developed. While in conventional magnetometers the magnetic resonance transitions between atomic sublevels are phase-coherently driven by a weak oscillating magnetic field, silent magnetometers use schemes in which either the frequency or the amplitude of the light beam is modulated. Here we present a theoretical model that yields algebraic expressions for the parameters of the multiple resonances that occur when either amplitude-, frequency-, or polarization-modulated light of circular polarization is used to drive the magnetic resonance transition in a transverse magnetic field. The relative magnitudes of the resonances that are observed in the transmitted light intensity at harmonic $m$ of the Larmor frequency ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{L}$ (either by DC or phase sensitive detection at harmonics $q$ of the modulation frequency ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{\mathrm{mod}}$) of the transmitted light are expressed in terms of the Fourier coefficients of the modulation function. Our approach is based on an atomic multipole moment representation that is valid for spin-oriented atomic states with arbitrary angular momentum $F$ in the low light power limit. We find excellent quantitative agreement with an experimental case study using (square-wave) amplitude-modulated light.

arXiv:1305.6574•Physical Review A•Jul 12, 2013•91 citations

Double resonance fequency light shift compensation in optically oriented laser-pumped alkali atoms

A. A. Baranov, Ермак Сергей Викторович, E. A. Sagitov +2 more

The contributions of the vector and scalar components to the magnetically dependent microwave transition frequency light shift are analyzed and the compensation of these components is experimentally demonstrated for the 87Rb atoms optically oriented by a laser tuned to the D 2 line of the head doublet. The Allan variance is studied as a function of the averaging time for a tandem of optically pumped quantum magnetometers (OPQMs), one of which is based on a low-frequency spin oscillator while another is based on a quantum microwave discriminator with a resonance frequency that corresponds to magnetically dependent transitions between HFS sublevels with the extremal value of the magnetic quantum number. It is shown that the compensation of the scalar and vector components of the light shift in OPQMs reduces the Allan variance at averaging times that exceed hundreds of seconds compared to a quantum discriminator based on the magnetically independent 0–0 transition. In this case, the minimal Allan variance in OPQMs at the end resonance is achieved at considerably longer averaging times than in the case of the quantum discriminator that is tuned to the 0–0 transition frequency.

Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics•Sep 1, 2015•9 citations

Two-quantum magnetic resonance driven by a comb-like rf field

Eugene A. Tsygankov, Sergei A. Zibrov, Alexander S. Zibrov +5 more

We report a new method for excitation of magnetic resonance in an optically aligned atomic ensemble. It employs a comb-like rf field acting on the end sublevels of the F g = 1 state separated by the doubled Zeeman frequency. This approach provides a resonance without substructures associated with the quadratic Zeeman shift. A theoretical explanation of the effect is given in terms of the two-quantum transition | F g = 1 , m F g = − 1 ⟩ ⇆ | F g = 1 , m F g = 1 ⟩ and is corroborated by an experiment with 87 R b atoms. Possible advantages of the approach and its range of applicability are discussed.

Optics Letters•Aug 13, 2020•1 citation

Limitations of rotating-wave approximation in magnetic resonance: characterization and elimination of the Bloch–Siegert shift in magneto-optics

Julia Sudyka, Szymon Pustelny, Wojciech Gawlik

We present investigations of radio-frequency (RF) resonances observed in an optically pumped rubidium vapor. By measuring the systematic shifts (the Bloch–Siegert shifts) of RF resonances in low magnetic fields, we demonstrate limitations of the rotating-wave approximation in the case of angular momentum F ≥ 1. The resonance shifts and deformations are characterized in a wide range of parameters and it is shown that the observed behavior is far more complex than in a standard two-level system. It is also demonstrated that the shifts can be controllably turned on or off by switching between the oscillating and rotating magnetic field. Experimental results are supported with numerical calculations, reproducing all features of the observed signals. Besides fundamental aspect of the research, application of rotating magnetic field helps to suppress/evaluate spectroscopic-measurement and precise-metrology systematic errors. The reported study has also important implications for quantum metrology and information processing beyond RWA and standard two-state qubit dynamics.

arXiv:1709.07194•New Journal of Physics•Dec 10, 2018•9 citations

Synchronous optical pumping of quantum revival beats for atomic magnetometry

Scott J. Seltzer, Parker Meares, Michael V. Romalis

We observe quantum beats with periodic revivals due to nonlinear spacing of Zeeman levels in the ground state of potassium atoms, and demonstrate their synchronous optical pumping by double modulation of the pumping light at the Larmor frequency and the revival frequency. We show that synchronous pumping increases the degree of spin polarization by a factor of 4. As a practical example, we explore the application of this double-modulation technique to atomic magnetometers operating in the geomagnetic field range, and find that it can increase the sensitivity and reduce magnetic-field-orientation-dependent measurement errors endemic to alkali-metal magnetometers.

arXiv:physics/0611014•Physical Review A•May 30, 2007•72 citations

Second-order effects in parametric-resonance magnetometers based on atomic alignment

François Beato, Agustin Palacios-Laloy

Abstract Optically-pumped magnetometers (OPM) based on parametric resonance allow real-time tri-axial measurement of very small magnetic fields with a single optical access to the gas cell. Most of these magnetometers rely on circularly polarized pumping light. We focus here on the ones relying on linearly polarized light, yielding atomic alignment. For these magnetometers we investigate three second order effects which appear in the usual regimes of operation, so to clarify if they translate to metrological problems like systematic errors or increased noise. The first of these effects is the breakdown of the three-step approach when the optical beam has a large intensity. The second one is the breakdown of the rotating wave approximation when the frequencies of the RF fields are not much larger than the rates of other atomic processes. The third one is the tensor light-shift which appears when the light is slightly detuned from resonance. This work should help to clarify the accuracy reachable with OPM, which is an important question notably for medical imaging applications.

EPJ Quantum Technology•May 7, 2020•17 citations
We theoretically investigate two-quantum magnetic resonance at the end sublevels of the ground state with a total angular momentum F g =1 in application to 87 Rb atoms. In this work, the effect of the elliptically polarized light on the shift of the resonance frequency is studied. Two schemes are compared: when the RF field is harmonic and when a periodic RF pulse train is used. We demonstrate that the latter approach provides a significantly smaller shift, which can be helpful in reducing the heading error in optically pumped magnetometers.
In recent years diode laser sources have become widespread and reliable tools in magneto-optical spectroscopy. In particular, laser-driven atomic magnetometers have found a wide range of practical applications. More recently, so-called magnetically silent variants of atomic magnetometers have been developed. While in conventional magnetometers the magnetic resonance transitions between atomic sublevels are phase-coherently driven by a weak oscillating magnetic field, silent magnetometers use schemes in which either the frequency or the amplitude of the light beam is modulated. Here we present a theoretical model that yields algebraic expressions for the parameters of the multiple resonances that occur when either amplitude-, frequency-, or polarization-modulated light of circular polarization is used to drive the magnetic resonance transition in a transverse magnetic field. The relative magnitudes of the resonances that are observed in the transmitted light intensity at harmonic mmm of the Larmor frequency ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{L}$ (either by DC or phase sensitive detection at harmonics qqq of the modulation frequency ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{\mathrm{mod}}$) of the transmitted light are expressed in terms of the Fourier coefficients of the modulation function. Our approach is based on an atomic multipole moment representation that is valid for spin-oriented atomic states with arbitrary angular momentum FFF in the low light power limit. We find excellent quantitative agreement with an experimental case study using (square-wave) amplitude-modulated light.
The contributions of the vector and scalar components to the magnetically dependent microwave transition frequency light shift are analyzed and the compensation of these components is experimentally demonstrated for the 87Rb atoms optically oriented by a laser tuned to the D 2 line of the head doublet. The Allan variance is studied as a function of the averaging time for a tandem of optically pumped quantum magnetometers (OPQMs), one of which is based on a low-frequency spin oscillator while another is based on a quantum microwave discriminator with a resonance frequency that corresponds to magnetically dependent transitions between HFS sublevels with the extremal value of the magnetic quantum number. It is shown that the compensation of the scalar and vector components of the light shift in OPQMs reduces the Allan variance at averaging times that exceed hundreds of seconds compared to a quantum discriminator based on the magnetically independent 0–0 transition. In this case, the minimal Allan variance in OPQMs at the end resonance is achieved at considerably longer averaging times than in the case of the quantum discriminator that is tuned to the 0–0 transition frequency.
We report a new method for excitation of magnetic resonance in an optically aligned atomic ensemble. It employs a comb-like rf field acting on the end sublevels of the F g = 1 state separated by the doubled Zeeman frequency. This approach provides a resonance without substructures associated with the quadratic Zeeman shift. A theoretical explanation of the effect is given in terms of the two-quantum transition | F g = 1 , m F g = − 1 ⟩ ⇆ | F g = 1 , m F g = 1 ⟩ and is corroborated by an experiment with 87 R b atoms. Possible advantages of the approach and its range of applicability are discussed.
We present investigations of radio-frequency (RF) resonances observed in an optically pumped rubidium vapor. By measuring the systematic shifts (the Bloch–Siegert shifts) of RF resonances in low magnetic fields, we demonstrate limitations of the rotating-wave approximation in the case of angular momentum F ≥ 1. The resonance shifts and deformations are characterized in a wide range of parameters and it is shown that the observed behavior is far more complex than in a standard two-level system. It is also demonstrated that the shifts can be controllably turned on or off by switching between the oscillating and rotating magnetic field. Experimental results are supported with numerical calculations, reproducing all features of the observed signals. Besides fundamental aspect of the research, application of rotating magnetic field helps to suppress/evaluate spectroscopic-measurement and precise-metrology systematic errors. The reported study has also important implications for quantum metrology and information processing beyond RWA and standard two-state qubit dynamics.
We observe quantum beats with periodic revivals due to nonlinear spacing of Zeeman levels in the ground state of potassium atoms, and demonstrate their synchronous optical pumping by double modulation of the pumping light at the Larmor frequency and the revival frequency. We show that synchronous pumping increases the degree of spin polarization by a factor of 4. As a practical example, we explore the application of this double-modulation technique to atomic magnetometers operating in the geomagnetic field range, and find that it can increase the sensitivity and reduce magnetic-field-orientation-dependent measurement errors endemic to alkali-metal magnetometers.
Abstract Optically-pumped magnetometers (OPM) based on parametric resonance allow real-time tri-axial measurement of very small magnetic fields with a single optical access to the gas cell. Most of these magnetometers rely on circularly polarized pumping light. We focus here on the ones relying on linearly polarized light, yielding atomic alignment. For these magnetometers we investigate three second order effects which appear in the usual regimes of operation, so to clarify if they translate to metrological problems like systematic errors or increased noise. The first of these effects is the breakdown of the three-step approach when the optical beam has a large intensity. The second one is the breakdown of the rotating wave approximation when the frequencies of the RF fields are not much larger than the rates of other atomic processes. The third one is the tensor light-shift which appears when the light is slightly detuned from resonance. This work should help to clarify the accuracy reachable with OPM, which is an important question notably for medical imaging applications.