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IEEE Sensors Journal

Effects of Multiple Factors on the Performance of Portable Self-Oscillating Laser Pumped Atomic Magnetometer

Kai Jin, Xu‐xing Geng, Jianfeng Xiao, Zhi Liang, Wangwang Tang, Guangming Huang, Gao‐xiang Li, Shaoping Wu, Guoqing Yang, Shangqing Liang

Published Feb 19, 2024• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

Self-oscillating magnetometers with high sensitivity are widely used in fields such as biomedicine and remote sensing. However, few studies comprehensively consider the effect of different parameters on their performance. We examined the effects of laser intensity, resonance detuning, radio frequency (RF) magnetic field, and atomic cell on the performance of portable self-oscillating magnetometers. To obtain the atomic absorption spectrum, we solved the system’s master equation in the multipole moment form. In theory, we analyse the influencing factors on the atomic magnetic resonance (AMR) signal. In the experiment, we artificially varied the relevant parameters to control the trends of changes in the atomic absorption spectra and evaluated their performance. The results are beneficial for optimizing the parameters of portable self-oscillating magnetometers with a laser pump-probe structure.

DOI
10.1109/jsen.2024.3365701

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Self-oscillating magnetometers with high sensitivity are widely used in fields such as biomedicine and remote sensing. However, few studies comprehensively consider the effect of different parameters on their performance. We examined the effects of laser intensity, resonance detuning, radio frequency (RF) magnetic field, and atomic cell on the performance of portable self-oscillating magnetometers. To obtain the atomic absorption spectrum, we solved the system’s master equation in the multipole moment form. In theory, we analyse the influencing factors on the atomic magnetic resonance (AMR) signal. In the experiment, we artificially varied the relevant parameters to control the trends of changes in the atomic absorption spectra and evaluated their performance. The results are beneficial for optimizing the parameters of portable self-oscillating magnetometers with a laser pump-probe structure.
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The frequency shifts of a self-oscillating magnetometer with cesium vapor are studied quantitatively by solving rate equations for cesium atoms undergoing the action of a circularly polarized pumping light beam. Particular attention is given to the frequency shifts due to the line asymmetry of the rf spectrum in the light transmitted through the vapor. The line asymmetry varies with the orientation of the light beam relative to the field to be measured, the intensity of the light, and the temperature of the absorption cell. As an effect of a buffer gas, two extreme cases are considered, i.e., the optically excited state is in the complete mixing state and in the nonmixing state. The results show the fact that the frequency shifts depend largely on the collisional mixing in the excited state and on the sense of the circular polarization of the light. In order to reduce the frequency shifts, a new type of magnetometer, called the symmetrized spectrum magnetometer, is discussed, in which two circularly polarized light beams with opposite sense are simultaneously applied to a partitioned absorption cell.
Introduction: A spin exchange relaxation free atomic magnetometer, as an ultra-highly sensitive magnetic field sensor, is limited by the performance of the probe laser system. The probe laser pumping effect (PLPE) hinders the increase in the performance of probe laser system. Methods: This study investigated the PLPE and proposed a method for suppressing the same. Through changes to the angle of a quarter wave plate and the addition of a triangular modulated magnetic field to the alkali atoms, the suppression point was determined. Results and discussion: Further, related parameters were measured for different degree of polarizations of the probe laser, which confirmed that the influence of PLPE on the magnetic field was the least at the suppressed point.
We demonstrated a scalar atomic magnetometer using a microfabricated Cs vapor cell. The atomic spin precession is driven by an amplitude-modulated circularly-polarized pump laser resonant on the D1 transition of Cs atoms and detected by an off-resonant linearly-polarized probe laser using a balanced polarimeter setup. Under a magnetic field with amplitude in the Earth's magnetic field range, the magnetometer in the gradiometer mode can reach sensitivities below 150fT/√Hz, which shows that the magnetometer by itself can achieve sub-100fT/√Hz sensitivities. In addition to its high sensitivity, the magnetometer has a bandwidth close to 1 kHz due to the broad magnetic resonance inside the small vapor cell. Our experiment suggests the feasibility of a portable low-power and high-performance magnetometer which can be operated in the Earth's magnetic field. Such a device will greatly reduce the restrictions on the operating environment and expand the range of applications for atomic magnetometers, such as detection of nuclear magnetic resonance in low magnetic fields