2007/09/30 by V. M. Acosta, M. Auzinsh, W. Gawlik +9 · 2 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Physics and Astronomy · #Atomic and Subatomic Physics Research #Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Studies #Quantum optics and atomic interactions #physics.atom-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1364/oe.16.011423
published as Optics Express, Vol. 16 Issue 15, pp.11423-11430 (2008) · 4 pages, 5 figures
arxiv created 2007/10/19 · openalex publication_date 2008/07/15 · arxiv updated 2010/03/30 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Optical magnetometers measure magnetic fields with extremely high precision and without cryogenics. However, at geomagnetic fields, important for applications from landmine removal to archaeology, they suffer from nonlinear Zeeman splitting, leading to systematic dependence on sensor orientation. We present experimental results on a method of eliminating this systematic error, using the hexadecapole atomic polarization moment. In particular, we demonstrate selective production of the atomic hexadecapole moment at Earth's magnetic field and verify its immunity to nonlinear Zeeman splitting. This technique promises to eliminate directional errors in all-optical atomic magnetometers, potentially improving their measurement accuracy by several orders of magnitude.