A Non-Modulated Triaxial Magnetic Field Compensation Method for Spin-Exchange Relaxation-Free Magnetometer Based on Zero-Field Resonance

Abstract

In this study, we demonstrate a non-modulated triaxial magnetic field compensation method for spin-exchange relaxation-free (SERF) atomic magnetometers. We realize simultaneous compensation of the magnetic field along the pump and probe directions by maximizing the first order differential value of the zero-field resonance signal. The magnetic field perpendicular to the pump-probe plane is compensated by zeroing the DC response of the magnetometer. The zero-field resonance is obtained by applying a linearly changed magnetic field along the direction perpendicular to that of the pump-probe plane. The first order differential of the zero-field resonance is acquired using the second order central difference method in real time. Compared with the conventional compensation methods, this method does not involve modulation and demodulation. Therefore, it requires no lock-in amplifier, thus making it more applicable in miniature atomic devices. Moreover, this method compensates the magnetic field along the pump and probe directions using only one criterion. It avoids the cross-talk effect between the pump and probe directions in the presence of non-orthogonal coils. The experiment results show that the compensation resolution is 9 pT, 7 pT and 0.05 pT for the probe, pump, and direction perpendicular to the pump-probe plane, respectively.

Keywords

• Atomic magnetometer
• cross-talk effect
• magnetic field compensation
• non-modulated
• spin-exchange relaxation-free
• zero-field resonance