Abstract.
We discuss the design and performance of a laser-pumped cesium vapor magnetometer in the Mx configuration. The device will be employed in the control and stabilization of fluctuating magnetic fields and gradients in a new experiment searching for a permanent electric dipole moment of the neutron. We have determined the intrinsic sensitivity of the device to be 15 fT in a 1 Hz bandwidth, limited by technical laser noise. In the shot noise limit the magnetometer can reach a sensitivity of 10 fT in a 1 Hz bandwidth. We have used the device to study the fluctuations of a stable magnetic field in a multi-layer magnetic shield for integration times in the range of 2–100 seconds. The residual fluctuations for times up to a few minutes are traced back to the instability of the power supply used to generate the field.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Y. Zhang, Y. Tavrin, H.J. Krause, H. Bousack, A.I.B. Ai, U. Kalberkamp, U. Matzander, M. Burghoff, L. Trahms, Appl. Supercond. 3, 367 (1995)
H. Becker, Archaeol. Prosp. 2, 217 (1995)
Magnetism in Medicine, edited by W. Andrä, H. Nowak (Wiley-VCH, Berlin, 1998)
I.S. Altarev, Y.V. Borisov, N.V. Borovikova, A.I. Egorov, S.N. Ivanov, E.A. Kolomensky, M.S. Lasakov, V.M. Lobashev, V.A. Nazarenko, A.N. Pirozhkov, et al., Phys. At. Nucl. 59, 1152 (1996)
URL http://ucn.web.psi.ch/ (2005)
A.L. Bloom, Appl. Opt. 1, 61 (1962)
E.B. Aleksandrov, M.V. Balabas, A.K. Vershovskii, A.E. Ivanov, N.N. Yakobson, V.L. Velichanskii, N.V. Senkov, Opt. Spectrosc. 78, 325 (1995)
E.B. Aleksandrov, Sov. Phys. Tech. Phys. 35, 371 (1990)
I.K. Kominis, T.W. Kornack, J.C. Allred, M.V. Romalis, Nature 422, 596 (2003).
G. Bison, R. Wynands, A. Weis, Appl. Phys. B 76, 325 (2003)
G. Bison, R. Wynands, A. Weis, Opt. Expr. 11, 904 (2003)
V.V. Yashchuk, D. Budker, J.R. Davis, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 71, 341 (2000)
N. Beverini, P. Minguzzi, F. Strumia, Phys. Rev. A 4, 550 (1971)
E.B. Alexandrov, M.V. Balabas, D. Budker, D. English, D.F. Kimball, C.-H. Li, V.V. Yashchuk, Phys. Rev. A 66, 042903 (2002)
G. Bison et al., to be published
J. Barnes, A. R. Chi, L. Cutler, D. Healey, D. Leeson, T. McGunigal, J. Mullen Jr, W. Smith, R. Sydnor, et al., IEEE Trans. Instrum. Meas. 20, 105 (1971)
C. Cohen-Tannoudji, Ann. Phys. 7, 423 (1962)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Groeger, S., Bison, G., Schenker, JL. et al. A high-sensitivity laser-pumped Mx magnetometer. Eur. Phys. J. D 38, 239–247 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2006-00037-y
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2006-00037-y