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Optical magnetometry

Nature Physics volume 3, pages 227–234 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Some of the most sensitive methods of measuring magnetic fields use interactions of resonant light with atomic vapour. Recent developments in this vibrant field have led to improvements in sensitivity and other characteristics of atomic magnetometers, benefiting their traditional applications for measurements of geomagnetic anomalies and magnetic fields in space, and opening many new areas previously accessible only to magnetometers based on superconducting quantum interference devices. We review basic principles of modern optical magnetometers, discuss fundamental limitations on their performance, and describe recently explored applications for dynamical measurements of biomagnetic fields, detecting signals in NMR and MRI, inertial rotation sensing, magnetic microscopy with cold atoms, and tests of fundamental symmetries of nature.

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Figure 1: A general schematic of an all-optical atomic magnetometer.
Figure 2: Comparison of Zeeman resonances for different modes of operation in a potassium vapour with density n = 7 × 1013 cm−3.
Figure 3: Examples of biological magnetic fields recorded with atomic magnetometers.
Figure 4: Detection of effective magnetic field by imaging of Larmor precession in a BEC of 87Rb (ref. 55).

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by DOD MURI grant No. N00014-05-1-0406. We are grateful to E. B. Alexandrov, M. V. Balabas, G. Bison, S. Bale, W. Gawlik, J. Higbie, M. Ledbetter, I. M. Savukov, D. Stamper-Kurn, A. Sushkov, M. Vengalattore and A. Weis for providing valuable input for this review.

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  1. Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-7300, California, USA

    Dmitry Budker

  2. Nuclear Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, 94720, California, USA

    Dmitry Budker

  3. Department of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, 08544, New Jersey, USA

    Michael Romalis

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Budker, D., Romalis, M. Optical magnetometry. Nature Phys 3, 227–234 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys566

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