Optically Pumped Magnetometers and Their Applications

A special issue of Atoms (ISSN 2218-2004).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2023) | Viewed by 3044

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Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA
Interests: energy levels; g-factors; transition probabilities; hyperfine interaction; isotope shifts; actinides
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Dear Colleagues,

Atomic magnetometers (AMs), optically pumped magnetometers (OPMs), or optical quantum sensors (OQSs) find many applications in science and the industry. Perhaps the most popular and promising, in terms of potential in achieving a real breakthrough in neuroimaging, are applications in recording the magnetic field generated by the brain, magnetoencephalography (MEG). OPMs can replace the state-of-the-art superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs), saving cost and making this powerful method of brain imaging more accessible by avoiding the need for expensive liquid helium. Several companies are already working on manufacturing single-channel sensors that can be combined into arrays on helmets, and it is also potentially possible to realize multichannel sensors in large alkali-metal cells with a buffer gas. Magnetocardiography (MCG) is another promising direction for replacing SQUIDs, because the need for cryogens is a significant impediment, and OPMs have recently been shown to be able to operate without shielding, provide a platform for medical MCG screening. Apart from low-frequency applications in MEG and MCG, OPMs can be used as a radiofrequency magnetic field detector in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) applications. Subfemtatesla sensitivity and noncryogenic operation are important attributes that could aid in the realization of novel methods of MRI and NMR at ultra-low fields, or enable more sensitive NQR detection. Arrays of sensors can be valuable for obtaining parallel MRI and accelerating imaging. In fundamental science, OPMs are gaining momentum in applications related to axion and dark matter search. While their application is the main driver of interest in OPMs, the investigation of their principles and discovery of novel methods for ultra-sensitive magnetic field measurements in a broad range of frequencies is also a very fascinating research field. Quantum sensing approaches are examples of nontrivial physics involving OPMs. This Special Issue aims to cover the abovementioned topics and others related to OPM applications, experiments with OPMs, ideas for novel types of OPMs, and OPM theory.

Dr. Igor Mykhaylovych Savukov
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • atomic magnetometer
  • optically pumped magnetometer
  • optical quantum sensor
  • MEG
  • MRI
  • non-cryogenic magnetometer
  • photon-shot noise
  • spin-projection noise
  • spin squeezing
  • ultra-sensitive magnetometer
  • axion
  • exotic spin interaction
  • vapor-cell magnetometer

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

12 pages, 4002 KiB  
Article
Dynamic Response of a Light-Modulated Magnetometer to Time-Dependent Fields
by Giuseppe Bevilacqua, Valerio Biancalana and Yordanka Dancheva
Atoms 2023, 11(8), 111; https://doi.org/10.3390/atoms11080111 - 11 Aug 2023
Viewed by 1425
Abstract
The dynamic response of a Bell-and-Bloom magnetometer to a parallel (to the bias field) time-dependent field is studied by means of a model that goes beyond the commonly assumed quasi-static regime. The findings unveil features that are related to the parametric nature of [...] Read more.
The dynamic response of a Bell-and-Bloom magnetometer to a parallel (to the bias field) time-dependent field is studied by means of a model that goes beyond the commonly assumed quasi-static regime. The findings unveil features that are related to the parametric nature of the considered system. It is shown that for low-amplitude time-dependent fields, different operating conditions are possible and that, besides the commonly reported low-pass filter behavior, a band-pass response emerges. Moreover, we show that a larger amplitude of the time-dependent field makes the parametric nature of the system appear more clearly in the output signal. A harmonic analysis of the latter is numerically performed to highlight and characterize these emerging features. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optically Pumped Magnetometers and Their Applications)
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