Detection of NMR signals with a radio-frequency atomic magnetometer

We demonstrate detection of proton NMR signals with a radio-frequency (rf) atomic magnetometer tuned to the NMR frequency of 62 kHz. High-frequency operation of the atomic magnetometer makes it relatively insensitive to ambient magnetic field noise. We obtain magnetic field sensitivity of 7 fT/Hz1/2 using only a thin aluminum shield. We also derive an expression for the fundamental sensitivity limit of a surface inductive pick-up coil as a function of frequency and find that an atomic rf magnetometer is intrinsically more sensitive than a coil of comparable size for frequencies below about 50 MHz.     

Development of 1.3GHz high-T-c rf SQUID

A new high-T_c (HT_c) rf SQUID working at around 1.3GHz has been developed to avoid electromagnetic interference such as growing mobile communication jamming. This new system works in a frequency range from 1.23 to 1.42GHz (centred at 1.3GHz), which is not occupied by commercial communication. The sensor used in the 1.3GHz rf SQUID is made of a HT_c coplanar superconducting resonator and a large-area HT_c superconducting film concentrator. We have achieved in the 1.3GHz HT_c rf SQUID system a minimal flux noise of 2.5×10^{-5}Φ_0/\sqrt{Hz} and a magnetic field sensitivity of 38fT/\sqrt{Hz} in white noise range, respectively. The effective area of the concentrator fabricated on a 15×15mm^2 substrate is 1.35mm^2. It is shown that the 1.3GHz rf SQUID system has a high field sensitivity. Design and implementation of 1.3GHz HT_c rf SQUID offers a promising direction of rf SQUID development for higher working frequency ranges.     

Nuclear spin gyroscope based on an atomic comagnetometer

We describe a nuclear spin gyroscope based on an alkali-metal-noble-gas comagnetometer. Optically pumped alkali-metal vapor is used to polarize the noble-gas atoms and detect their gyroscopic precession. Spin precession due to magnetic fields as well as their gradients and transients can be cancelled in this arrangement. The sensitivity is enhanced by using a high-density alkali-metal vapor in a spin-exchange relaxation free regime. With a K-3He comagnetometer we demonstrate rotation sensitivity of 5 x 10(-7) rad s(-1) Hz(-1/2), equivalent to a magnetic field sensitivity of 2.5 fT/Hz(1/2). The rotation signal can be increased by a factor of 10 using 21Ne with a smaller magnetic moment. The comagnetometer is also a promising tool in searches for anomalous spin couplings beyond the standard model.     

提高激光抽运铯原子磁力仪灵敏度的研究

本文报道了一种基于激光抽运射频共振的铯原子磁力仪. 通过圆偏振光将铯原子抽运到暗态, 实现偏极化. 外磁场存在时, 原子磁矩将以拉莫尔频率绕外磁场进动. 在共振射频磁场的作用下, 原子被去极化而重新吸收光子. 通过探测出射光光谱可以测得拉莫尔频率进而得到外磁场的信息. 本文通过运用自制的894 nm 外腔半导体激光器, 建立了激光稳频装置和低噪声磁场测量环境, 实现了一种基于铯原子激光抽运射频共振的磁力仪. 通过磁力仪参数优化以及闭环测量, 磁力仪测量的外磁场达到了19 fT/Hz^1/2的极限灵敏度和1.8 pT/Hz^1/2的本征灵敏度, 空间分辨率小于2 cm. 关键词： 光抽运 塞曼效应 光探测磁共振 磁力仪     

Development of 1.3GHz high-T-c rf SQUID

A new high-T_c (HT_c) rf SQUID working at around 1.3GHz has been developed to avoid electromagnetic interference such as growing mobile communication jamming. This new system works in a frequency range from 1.23 to 1.42GHz (centred at 1.3GHz), which is not occupied by commercial communication. The sensor used in the 1.3GHz rf SQUID is made of a HT_c coplanar superconducting resonator and a large-area HT_c superconducting film concentrator. We have achieved in the 1.3GHz HT_c rf SQUID system a minimal flux noise of 2.5×10^{-5}Φ_0/\sqrt{Hz} and a magnetic field sensitivity of 38fT/\sqrt{Hz} in white noise range, respectively. The effective area of the concentrator fabricated on a 15×15mm^2 substrate is 1.35mm^2. It is shown that the 1.3GHz rf SQUID system has a high field sensitivity. Design and implementation of 1.3GHz HT_c rf SQUID offers a promising direction of rf SQUID development for higher working frequency ranges.     

大有效面积的高Tc rf SQUID

关键词： c rf SQUID')" href="#">高T_c rf SQUID 新型结构 大有效面积 磁通聚焦器     

High-sensitivity atomic magnetometer unaffected by spin-exchange relaxation

Alkali-metal magnetometers compete with SQUID detectors as the most sensitive magnetic field sensors. Their sensitivity is limited by relaxation due to spin-exchange collisions. We demonstrate a K magnetometer in which spin-exchange relaxation is completely eliminated by operating at high K density and low magnetic field. Direct measurements of the signal-to-noise ratio give a magnetometer sensitivity of 10 fT Hz(-1/2), limited by magnetic noise produced by Johnson currents in the magnetic shields. We extend a previous theoretical analysis of spin exchange in low magnetic fields to arbitrary spin polarizations and estimate the shot-noise limit of the magnetometer to be 2x10(-18) T Hz(-1/2).     

Laser phase and frequency stabilization using an optical resonator

We describe a new and highly effective optical frequency discriminator and laser stabilization system based on signals reflected from a stable Fabry-Perot reference interferometer. High sensitivity for detection of resonance information is achieved by optical heterodyne detection with sidebands produced by rf phase modulation. Physical, optical, and electronic aspects of this discriminator/laser frequency stabilization system are considered in detail. We show that a high-speed domain exists in which the system responds to the phase (rather than frequency) change of the laser; thus with suitable design the servo loop bandwidth is not limited by the cavity response time. We report diagnostic experiments in which a dye laser and gas laser were independently locked to one stable cavity. Because of the precautions employed, the observed sub-100 Hz beat line width shows that the lasers were this stable. Applications of this system of laser stabilization include precision laser spectroscopy and interferometric gravity-wave detectors.     

Comparison of discharge lamp and laser pumped cesium magnetometers

We have performed a comparison of laser (LsOPM) and lamp (LpOPM) pumped cesium vapor magnetometers. Although the LsOPM operated 50% above its shot-noise limit we found an intrinsic sensitivity of 15 fT/√Hz and 25 fT/√Hz for the LsOPM and the LpOPM, respectively. Two modes of operation, viz. the phase-stabilized and the self-oscillating modes, were investigated and found to yield a similar performance. We have compared the performance of the LsOPM and the LpOPM directly by simultaneous measurements of field fluctuations of a 2-μT magnetic field inside a multilayer magnetic shield and have used one of the magnetometers for an active field stabilization. In the stabilized mode we found a gradient instability of 25 fT within an integration time of 100 s, which represents an upper limit of the long-term stability of the magnetometers. Our research is motivated by the need for an improved control of magnetic fields and gradients in a planned neutron electric dipole experiment.This revised version was published online in August 2005 with a corrected cover date.     

A high-sensitivity laser-pumped Mx magnetometer

We discuss the design and performance of a laser-pumped cesium vapor magnetometer in the M_x configuration. The device will be employed in the control and stabilization of fluctuating magnetic fields and gradients in a new experiment searching for a permanent electric dipole moment of the neutron. We have determined the intrinsic sensitivity of the device to be 15 fT in a 1 Hz bandwidth, limited by technical laser noise. In the shot noise limit the magnetometer can reach a sensitivity of 10 fT in a 1 Hz bandwidth. We have used the device to study the fluctuations of a stable magnetic field in a multi-layer magnetic shield for integration times in the range of 2–100 seconds. The residual fluctuations for times up to a few minutes are traced back to the instability of the power supply used to generate the field.     

rf Spectroscopy with a single Ba+ ion

We have employed the method of shelving to measure Zeeman resonances of a single trapped Ba+ ion. We use optical pumping to place the ion in a selected magnetic sublevel of either the 6S(1/2) ground state or the 5D(3/2) metastable state. The ion is exposed to an rf field, and a probing/shelving mechanism detects whether spin-flip transitions have taken place. We have observed rf transitions with linewidths of 15 Hz, limited by magnetic-field noise. We have also observed the shift in the Zeeman frequency when the ion is illuminated by off-resonant light. A simultaneous measurement of such light shifts in two atomic states of Ba+ will permit a precise determination of the ratio of transition matrix elements.     

A large sample study of spin relaxation and magnetometric sensitivity of paraffin-coated Cs vapor cells

We have manufactured more than 250 nominally identical paraffin-coated Cs vapor cells (28 mm inner diameter bulbs) for multi-channel atomic magnetometer applications. We describe our dedicated cell characterization apparatus. For each cell we have determined the intrinsic longitudinal, Γ ₀₁, and transverse, Γ ₀₂, relaxation rates. Our best cell shows Γ ₀₁/2π≈0.5 Hz, and Γ ₀₂/2π≈2 Hz. We find a strong correlation of both relaxation rates which we explain in terms of reservoir and spin exchange relaxation. For each cell we have determined the optimal combination of rf and laser powers which yield the highest sensitivity to magnetic field changes. Out of all produced cells, 90% are found to have magnetometric sensitivities in the range of 9 to 30 fT . Noise analysis shows that the magnetometers operated with such cells have a sensitivity close to the fundamental photon shot noise limit.     

Radio-frequency association of molecules: an assisted Feshbach resonance

We develop a theoretical model to describe the radio-frequency (rf) induced coupling of a pair of colliding atoms to a Feshbach molecule when a magnetic field arbitrarily far from the Feshbach resonance is modulated in time. We use the dressed atom picture, and show that the coupling strength in presence of rf is equal to the Feshbach coupling strength multiplied by the square of a Bessel function. The argument of this function is equal to the ratio of the atomic rf Rabi frequency to the rf frequency. We experimentally demonstrate this law by measuring the rate of rf-association of molecules using a Feshbach resonance in d wave collisions between ultra-cold chromium atoms.     

Experimental verification of predicted beam-polarization oscillations near a spin resonance

The Chao matrix formalism allows analytic calculations of a beam's polarization behavior inside a spin resonance. We recently tested its prediction of polarization oscillations occurring in a stored beam of polarized particles near a spin resonance. Using a 1.85 GeV/c polarized deuteron beam stored in the COoler SYnchrotron, we swept a new rf solenoid's frequency rather rapidly through 400 Hz during 100 ms, while varying the distance between the sweep's end frequency and the central frequency of an rf-induced spin resonance. Our measurements of the deuteron's polarization near and inside the resonance agree with the Chao formalism's predicted oscillations.     

Inhomogeneous electronic structure probed by spin-echo experiments in the electron doped high-Tc superconductor Pr1.85Ce0.15CuO4-y

63Cu nuclear magnetic resonance spin-echo decay rate (T-12) measurements are reported for the normal and superconducting states of a single crystal of Pr(1.85)Ce(0.15)CuO(4-y) in a magnetic field B(0)=9 T over the temperature range 2相似文献   

Contribution of the tensor component to the light shift of the rf optical microwave resonance frequency in rubidium vapor

We have calculated the tensor component of the light shift for the frequency of the rf optical microwave resonance on the magnetically independen 0−0 and 1, −1 transitions in rubidium-87 atoms under conditions of isotope filtering of the resonant pump light. We have observed a difference between the temperatures of the filter cell at which a zero frequency shift is achieved for the rf optical resonance for these transitions. We have noted that selective optical pumping on theD ₁ lines is advisable when using a two-photon microwave transition in rubidium vapor in applications. St. Petersburg State Technical University, St. Petersburg. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, Vol. 42, No. 2, pp. 86–90, February, 1999.     

Electric field induced nuclear spin resonance mediated by oscillating electron spin domains in GaAs-based semiconductors

We demonstrate an alternative nuclear spin resonance using a radio frequency (rf) electric field [nuclear electric resonance (NER)] instead of a magnetic field. The NER is based on the electronic control of electron spins forming a domain structure. The rf electric field applied to a gate excites spatial oscillations of the domain walls and thus temporal oscillations of the hyperfine field to nuclear spins. The rf power and burst duration dependence of the NER spectrum provides insight into the interplay between nuclear spins and the oscillating domain walls.     

Optical detection of single-electron spin resonance in a quantum dot

We demonstrate optically detected spin resonance of a single electron confined to a self-assembled quantum dot. The dot is rendered dark by resonant optical pumping of the spin with a laser. Contrast is restored by applying a radio frequency (rf) magnetic field at the spin resonance. The scheme is sensitive even to rf fields of just a few microT. In one case, the spin resonance behaves as a driven 3-level lambda system with weak damping; in another one, the dot exhibits remarkably strong (67% signal recovery) and narrow (0.34 MHz) spin resonances with fluctuating resonant positions, evidence of unusual dynamic processes.     

Theoretical study of the accuracy limits of optical resonance frequency measurements

The principal limits for the accuracy of the resonance frequency measurements set by the asymmetry of the natural resonance line shape are studied and applied to the recent accurate frequency measurements in the two-photon 1s-2s resonance and in the one-photon 1s-2p resonance in a hydrogen atom. This limit for 1s-2s resonance is found to be approximately 10(-5) Hz compared to the accuracy achieved in experiment +/-46 Hz. In the case of a deuterium atom the limit is essentially larger: 10(-2) Hz. For 1s-2p resonance the accuracy limit is 0.17 MHz while the uncertainty of the recent frequency measurement is about 6 MHz.     

Coherence selection in double CP MAS NMR spectroscopy

Applications of double cross-polarization (CP) magic-angle spinning (MAS) NMR spectroscopy, via (1)H/(15)N and then (15)N/(13)C coherence transfers, for (13)C coherence selection are demonstrated on a (15)N/(13)C-labeled N-acetyl-glucosamine (GlcNAc) compound. The (15)N/(13)C coherence transfer is very sensitive to the settings of the experimental parameters. To resolve explicitly these parameter dependences, we have systematically monitored the (13)C{(15)N/(1)H} signal as a function of the rf field strength and the MAS frequency. The data reveal that the zero-quantum coherence transfer, with which the (13)C effective rf field is larger than that of the (15)N by the spinning frequency, would give better signal sensitivity. We demonstrate in one- and two-dimensional double CP experiments that spectral editing can be achieved by tailoring the experimental parameters, such as the rf field strengths and/or the MAS frequency.