Symmetry-breaking inelastic wave-mixing atomic magnetometry

Published

December 1, 2017

Author(s)

Feng Zhou, Edward W. Hagley, Lu Deng, Chengjie Zhu

Abstract

The nonlinear magneto-optical rotation (NMOR) effect has prolific applications ranging from precision mapping of Earth's magnetic field to biomagnetic sensing. Studies on collisional spin relaxation effects have led to ultrahigh magnetic field sensitivities using a single-beam L scheme with state-of-the-art magnetic shielding/compensation techniques. However, the NMOR effect in this widely used single-beam L scheme is peculiarly small, requiring complex radio-frequency phase-locking protocols. We show the presence of a previously unknown energy symmetry-based nonlinear propagation blockade and demonstrate an optical inelastic wave-mixing NMOR technique that breaks this NMOR blockade, resulting in an NMOR optical signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) enhancement of more than two orders of magnitude never before seen with the single-beamL scheme. The large SNR enhancement was achieved simultaneously with a nearly two orders of magnitude reduction in laser power while preserving the magnetic resonance linewidth. This new method may open a myriad of applications ranging from biomagnetic imaging to precision measurement of the magnetic properties of subatomic particles.

Citation

Science Advances

Volume

3

Issue

N/A

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1700422

Local Download

Keywords

magnetometer, Faraday effect, polarization rotation

Citation

Zhou, F. , Hagley, E. , Deng, L. and Zhu, C. (2017), Symmetry-breaking inelastic wave-mixing atomic magnetometry, Science Advances, [online], https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1700422, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=920946 (Accessed September 18, 2024)