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IEEE International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS)

Optimization of Beam Characteristics for Quantum Magnetometers Based on 3D Mems Alkali Vapor Cells

Wenqi Li, Jintang Shang

Published Jan 25, 2026• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

This paper reports, for the first time, a systematic optimization of beam characteristics for quantum magnetometers utilizing 3D MEMS rubidium vapor cells. A novel single-beam quantum magnetometer is designed where the beam characteristics can be modified and characterized in situ. The optimized beam diameter exhibits more homogeneous spatial distribution, resulting in an increase of up to 327.3% for the polarization lifetime of the atomic ensemble within 3D MEMS vapor cells. In addition, the optimized beam diameter effectively increases the number of atoms interacting with photons, leading to an improvement of 962.5% in the response slope of the quantum magnetometer. The experimental results provide valuable insights and practical guidelines for the design of high-performance single-beam quantum magnetometers based on 3D MEMS alkali vapor cells.

DOI
10.1109/mems64181.2026.11419071

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This paper reports, for the first time, a systematic optimization of beam characteristics for quantum magnetometers utilizing 3D MEMS rubidium vapor cells. A novel single-beam quantum magnetometer is designed where the beam characteristics can be modified and characterized in situ. The optimized beam diameter exhibits more homogeneous spatial distribution, resulting in an increase of up to 327.3% for the polarization lifetime of the atomic ensemble within 3D MEMS vapor cells. In addition, the optimized beam diameter effectively increases the number of atoms interacting with photons, leading to an improvement of 962.5% in the response slope of the quantum magnetometer. The experimental results provide valuable insights and practical guidelines for the design of high-performance single-beam quantum magnetometers based on 3D MEMS alkali vapor cells.
Wearable biomagnetic field mapping with multiple-channel atomic magnetometers (AMs) requires low-cost microfabricated rubidium vapor cell arrays (RVCAs) of high performance. In this letter, an innovative microfabricated 3D RVCA with optimized polarization lifetime is proposed and demonstrated at a wafer level. To characterize the influence of vapor cell geometry on polarization lifetime, the 3D RVCA with four interconnected light-atom interaction chambers of uniform internal buffer gas pressure (0.7 amg) and various surface-to-volume ratios (17.61, 18.15, 20.95, and 27.14 cm-1) are prepared. For the first time, we utilize single-beam configuration to characterize microfabricated 3D RVCA by extrapolating to vanishing light intensity. We measure the intrinsic polarization lifetime of the four chambers within an 3D RVCA. The results indicate that decreasing the surface-to-volume ratio of the chamber in 3D RVCA at 413 K substantially improves the polarization lifetime by 129.3%. Measurements conducted across varying temperature all demonstrate that reductions in surface-to-volume ratios positively influence the enhancement of the polarization lifetime. The proposed RVCA offers critical insights for low-cost and high-performance chip-scale AM array based on microfabricated 3D atomic vapor cells.
This paper reports a novel Mzatomic magnetometer based on a low-cost 3D MEMS glass alkali vapor cell with vertical sidewalls for optical pumping/probing transmission. By designing vertical side walls, the 3D MEMS vapor cell provides high-quality centimeter-level optical paths for atom-photon interactions. The wafer-level high-quality multiple optical paths are also acquired for flexible Mzatomic magnetometer designs. Experiments show that the sensitivity of the proposed Mz magnetometer is 3.7 pT/Hz1/2at 1 Hz under 14000 nT.
The designs of microfabricated alkali vapor cells play an important role when the atomic magnetometers are developing toward on-chip integration. This paper presents microfabricated spherical alkali vapor cells with improved sensitivity for chip-scale atomic magnetometers. A microfabricated spherical rubidium vapor cell and a traditional microfabricated planar rubidium vapor cell are designed for comparison, which are of the same volume and interconnected by a microchannel to acquire equal inner buffer gas pressure. In chip-scale spin-exchange relaxation-free (SERF) atomic magnetometers, the rubidium polarization lifetimes of three pairs of spherical and planar vapor cells at different buffer gas pressures of 0.35, 0.73, and 2.00 amg are measured, respectively. The sensitivity of SERF atomic magnetometers using the vapor cells at a 0.35-amg buffer gas pressure is also measured. The results show that the transverse polarization lifetime of the spherical vapor cell is 2.46, 1.44, and 1.05 times that of the planar one at 0.35-, 0.73-, and 2.00-amg buffer gas pressures, respectively. Combining the improved polarization lifetime and increased optical path length, chip-scale SERF atomic magnetometer using the microspherical vapor cell has the sensitivity of 60 fT/Hz1/2from 5 to 15 Hz, while that based on the planar one is demonstrated with the sensitivity of 400 fT/Hz1/2from 5 to 15 Hz.
With the state-of-the-art quantum measurement devices, such as atomic clocks, atomic gyroscopes, and atomic magnetometers, as their central components, the spatiotemporal evolution of atomic spin polarization in the atomic vapor cell has a major effect on both increasing the bandwidth of magnetometer and improving the accuracy of magnetic gradient measurements. However, the major factor impeding the further improvement of the performance of quantum measurement instrument is the inherent static nature of the traditional intra-vapor cell segmentation imaging technique, which makes it challenging to achieve the real-time capture of the dynamic evolution of atomic spin states. In this work, we suggest a dynamic spin imaging method for alkali metal atomic vapor cells with real-time modification of atomic spin polarization states in order to overcome this technological difficulty. In particular, to ensure that the laser can precisely act on the alkali metal atoms in various regions in the vapor cell, we employ a complex beam array management system to modify the on/off state of the laser beams at various positions in the spatial dimension in real time. In the meantime, we generate laser fields with particular spatial distribution and frequency characteristics by using frequency modulation techniques in the time series to accurately regulate the on-off frequency of each laser beam in the beam array. These laser beams cause dynamic changes in the atomic spin polarization state by interacting with alkali metal atoms at various points in the vapor cell. Through precise adjustment of the laser properties, we can see and study the dynamic evolution of the atomic spin-polarization state in real time. According to the experimental data, the technology outperforms the traditional static spin imaging techniques by achieving an excellent temporal resolution of 355 frames per second and a spatial resolution of 95.9 micrometers. The effective use of this method enables us to monitor and evaluate the dynamic aspects of magnetic field distribution with unprecedented precision, also greatly enhance our understanding of the dynamic characteristics of atomic spin polarization.
Abstract Quantitative assessments of the level and lifetime of alkali metal in the atomic vapor cells are essential for improving the stability of atomic magnetometers. In this paper, a fast and non-destructive approach is proposed to directly characterize the level of 87Rb in a hermetic MEMS vapor cell. The MEMS-compatible 87Rb evaporation technique is developed to dispense 87Rb in the vapor cells with high efficiency. The morphology of the metallic 87Rb in the MEMS vapor cell is visualized by the non-destructive X-ray technique, and the measured contact angle is 43° ± 2°. Combined with the image recognition, the quantitative characterization of the 87Rb is achieved, and the consumption rates of 87Rb in MEMS cells are experimentally investigated. The presented approach is beneficial for the fabrication and performance enhancement of vapor cells for atomic magnetometers.
Accurate characterization of atomic vapor cells is crucial for enhancing the sensitivity of miniature atomic magnetometers. In this study, a fast and efficient approach is developed to characterize relaxation properties of the inner surface of the 87Rb micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) vapor cell. Based on the zero-field level crossing effect, the transverse relaxation rate was experimentally determined, and the depolarization coefficient of 0.097 for atom-wall collisions in the 87Rb MEMS vapor cell was obtained. The experiments demonstrated that the alkali-wall collision relaxation gradually dominates the depolarization of the 87Rb ensemble as the radius of the vapor cell decreases. This research provides a quantitative method to evaluate the effectiveness of the MEMS vapor cell anti-relaxation coatings and offers the design inspiration for MEMS atomic vapor cells from the perspective of relaxation characterization. It is beneficial for the development of weak magnetic field detections such as biomagnetism detection in ambient environments.