An unshielded radio-frequency atomic magnetometer with sub-femtoTesla sensitivity

作者：Keder David A^*; Prescott David W; Conovaloff Adam W; Sauer Karen L

来源：AIP Advances, 2014, 4(12): 127159.

DOI：10.1063/1.4905449

We demonstrate a radio-frequency potassium-vapor magnetometer operating with sensitivities of 0.3 fT/root Hz at 0.5 MHz and 0.9 fT/root Hz at 1.31 MHz in the absence of radio-frequency and mu-metal or magnetic shielding. The use of spatially separated magnetometers, two voxels within the same cell, permits for the subtraction of common mode noise and the retention of a gradient signal, as from a local source. At 0.5 MHz the common mode noise was white and measured to be 3.4 fT/root Hz; upon subtraction the noise returned to the values observed when the magnetometer was shielded. At 1.31 MHz, the common mode noise was from a nearby radio station and was reduced by a factor of 33 upon subtraction, limited only by the radio signal picked up by receiver electronics. Potential applications include in-the-field low-field magnetic resonance, such as the use of nuclear quadrupole resonance for the detection of explosives.

• 出版日期2014-12