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A Microfabricated Tunable Cavity Atomic Magnetometer

Peter Schwindt, Sandia National Laboratories

(Session : Thursday from )

Abstract. Atomic magnetometers have demonstrated record sensitivities to small changes in weak magnetic fields. With the advent of millimeter-scale (and smaller) vapor cells, it is possible to dramatically miniaturize an atomic magnetometer while maintaining sensitivity in the range of tens of femtoTesla. When miniaturizing a zero-field spin-exchange relaxation-free (SERF) magnetometer, it is difficult to implement polarization modulation used for lock-in detection of the Faraday rotation induced by the atomic sample, as is done in conventional SERF magnetometers. As an alternative, we use a millimeter-sized MEMS movable mirror and a diffraction grating to interferometrically detect the atomic response to a magnetic field. I will present result showing a comparison between two SERF magnetometers read out using either the tunable cavity technique or the conventional Faraday rotation technique.