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arXiv · 2112.09004

Femtotesla nearly quantum-noise-limited pulsed gradiometer at Earth-scale fields

V. G. Lucivero·W. Lee·M. V. Romalis·M. E. Limes·E. L. Foley·T. W. Kornack
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Abstract

We describe a finite fields magnetic gradiometer using an intense pulsed laser to polarize a $^{87}$Rb atomic ensemble and a compact VCSEL probe laser to detect paramagnetic Faraday rotation in a single multipass cell. We report differential magnetic sensitivity of $14$ fT/Hz$^{1/2}$ over a broad dynamic range including Earth's field magnitude and common-mode rejection ratio higher than $10^4$. We also observe a nearly quantum-noise-limited behaviour of the gradiometer, by comparing the experimental standard deviation of the estimated frequency difference against the Cram\'{e}r-Rao lower bound in the presence of white photon shot-noise, atomic spin noise and atomic diffusion.

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V. G. Lucivero, W. Lee, M. V. Romalis, M. E. Limes, E. L. Foley, T. W. Kornack. 2021-12-16. Femtotesla nearly quantum-noise-limited pulsed gradiometer at Earth-scale fields. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevapplied.18.l021001

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