In-Situ Measurement of Electrical-Heating-Induced Magnetic Field for an Atomic Magnetometer

Sensors (Basel). 2020 Mar 25;20(7):1826. doi: 10.3390/s20071826.

Abstract

Electrical heating elements, which are widely used to heat the vapor cell of ultrasensitive atomic magnetometers, inevitably produce a magnetic field interference. In this paper, we propose a novel measurement method of the amplitude of electrical-heating-induced magnetic field for an atomic magnetometer. In contrast to conventional methods, this method can be implemented in the atomic magnetometer itself without the need for extra magnetometers. It can distinguish between different sources of magnetic fields sensed by the atomic magnetometer, and measure the three-axis components of the magnetic field generated by the electrical heater and the temperature sensor. The experimental results demonstrate that the measurement uncertainty of the heater's magnetic field is less than 0.2 nT along the x-axis, 1.0 nT along the y-axis, and 0.4 nT along the z-axis. The measurement uncertainty of the temperature sensor's magnetic field is less than 0.02 nT along all three axes. This method has the advantage of measuring the in-situ magnetic field, so it is especially suitable for miniaturized and chip-scale atomic magnetometers, where the cell is extremely small and in close proximity to the heater and the temperature sensor.

Keywords: atomic magnetometer; electrical heating; in-situ measurement; spin-exchange relaxation-free.