Université de Fribourg

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

Castagna, Natascia ; Bison, Georg ; Di Domenico, Gianni ; Hofer, Adrian ; Knowles, Paul ; Macchione, Catherine ; Saudan, Hervé ; Weis, Antoine

In: Applied Physics B, 2009, vol. 96, no. 4, p. 763-772

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...

Université de Fribourg

Experimental study of laser-detected magnetic resonance based on atomic alignment

Di Domenico, Gianni ; Bison, Georg ; Groeger, Stephan ; Knowles, Paul E. ; Pazgalev, Anatoly S. ; Rebetez, Martin ; Saudan, Hervé ; Weis, Antoine

In: Physical Review A, 2006, vol. 74, no. 6, p. 063415

We present an experimental study of the spectra produced by optical–radio-frequency double resonance in which resonant linearly polarized laser light is used in the optical pumping and detection processes. We show that the experimental spectra obtained for cesium are in excellent agreement with a very general theoretical model developed in our group [Weis, Bison, and Pazgalev, Phys. Rev. A 74,...

Université de Fribourg

Sensitivity of double-resonance alignment magnetometers

Di Domenico, Gianni ; Saudan, Hervé ; Bison, Georg ; Knowles, Paul E. ; Weis, Antoine

In: Physical Review A, 2007, vol. 76, no. 2, p. 023407

We present an experimental study of the intrinsic magnetometric sensitivity of an optical or rf-frequency double-resonance magnetometer in which linearly polarized laser light is used in the optical pumping and detection processes. We show that a semiempirical model of the magnetometer can be used to describe the magnetic resonance spectra. Then, we present an efficient method to predict the...

Université de Fribourg

A new optical magnetometer for MCG measurements in a low-cost shielding room

Bison, Georg ; Schläpfer, U. ; Di Domenico, Gianni ; Saudan, Hervé ; Weis, Antoine

In: International Congress Series, 2007, vol. 1300, p. 561-564

In the past years we were able to show that room temperature optical magnetometers based on magnetic resonance in atomic vapors can be used to measure magnetocardiographic (MCG) signals of healthy adults. The objective of our ongoing work is to demonstrate that multichannel arrangements of affordable and maintenance-free optical magnetometers can be operated in clinical settings. On the way to...

Université de Fribourg

Continuous beams of cold atoms for space applications

Thomann, P. ; Plimmer, M. ; Di Domenico, Gianni ; Castagna, N. ; Guéna, J. ; Dudle, G. ; Füzesi, F.

In: Applied Physics B: Lasers and Optics, 2006, vol. 84, no. 4, p. 659-662

The precision of atomic state measurements should ideally be limited by irreducible fluctuations associated with the number of atoms available, e.g. shot noise or quantum projection noise. In practice, other noise sources can limit the precision achievable; a well-known effect is the intermodulation effect, or Dick effect, which degrades the stability of atomic fountain clocks using pulsed...