TY - JOUR

T1 - High-contrast level-crossing resonances in a small cesium vapor cell for applications in atomic magnetometry

AU - Brazhnikov, D. V.

AU - Vishnyakov, V. I.

AU - Ignatovich, S. M.

AU - Mesenzova, I. S.

AU - Andreeva, C.

AU - Goncharov, A. N.

N1 - The authors acknowledge support from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (No. 20-52-18004) and the Bulgarian National Science Fund (No. KP-06-Russia/11) in the framework of a joint research project. We also thank the Russian Science Foundation (No. 17-72-20089). I. S. Mesenzova has also been supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (Presidential Scholarship No. SP-269.2021.3). Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Author(s).

PY - 2021/7/12

Y1 - 2021/7/12

N2 - Level-crossing (LC) resonances in alkali-metal vapors are widely used for atomic magnetometry. One of the most simple and robust techniques involves a single circularly polarized light wave, while a transverse magnetic field (Bx⊥k) is scanned around zero to observe the subnatural-linewidth resonance of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in the light wave transmission. This technique allows miniaturization of the magnetic field sensor to a great extent, maintaining high sensitivity of measurements. To obtain a high quality factor of the LC resonance and, therefore, high performance of the sensor, either a high temperature (>120 °C) or an extended volume of the vapor cell (V≫1 cm3) is usually required. Here, we propose a slight modification to the commonly used configuration, which can provide high-quality LC resonances in small (≪1 cm3) vapor cells at a relatively low temperature of 60 °C or less. The modification consists in adding the second (pump) counterpropagating light wave with opposite circular polarization (σ+σ− configuration). In our experiments, the waves excite the D1-line ground-state level Fg=4 in cesium atoms in the presence of a buffer gas (Ne, 130 Torr). In the proposed scheme, a subnatural-linewidth electromagnetically induced absorption (EIA) resonance is observed. We compare parameters of the EIA resonance with those obtained in the single-wave scheme to show benefits of using the proposed σ+σ− configuration. The results have good prospects for developing a low-power miniaturized atomic magnetometer with a wide operating range.

AB - Level-crossing (LC) resonances in alkali-metal vapors are widely used for atomic magnetometry. One of the most simple and robust techniques involves a single circularly polarized light wave, while a transverse magnetic field (Bx⊥k) is scanned around zero to observe the subnatural-linewidth resonance of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in the light wave transmission. This technique allows miniaturization of the magnetic field sensor to a great extent, maintaining high sensitivity of measurements. To obtain a high quality factor of the LC resonance and, therefore, high performance of the sensor, either a high temperature (>120 °C) or an extended volume of the vapor cell (V≫1 cm3) is usually required. Here, we propose a slight modification to the commonly used configuration, which can provide high-quality LC resonances in small (≪1 cm3) vapor cells at a relatively low temperature of 60 °C or less. The modification consists in adding the second (pump) counterpropagating light wave with opposite circular polarization (σ+σ− configuration). In our experiments, the waves excite the D1-line ground-state level Fg=4 in cesium atoms in the presence of a buffer gas (Ne, 130 Torr). In the proposed scheme, a subnatural-linewidth electromagnetically induced absorption (EIA) resonance is observed. We compare parameters of the EIA resonance with those obtained in the single-wave scheme to show benefits of using the proposed σ+σ− configuration. The results have good prospects for developing a low-power miniaturized atomic magnetometer with a wide operating range.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85110368809&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=46953619

U2 - 10.1063/5.0059019

DO - 10.1063/5.0059019

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85110368809

VL - 119

JO - Applied Physics Letters

JF - Applied Physics Letters

SN - 0003-6951

IS - 2

M1 - 024001

ER -