Search

Alkali metal-noble gas comagnetometers operated in the regime of spin-exchange relaxation-free (SERF) have been widely used in fundamental physics tests and rotation sensing as gyroscope. Spin-exchange relaxation is an important systematic bias of the comagnetometer, which could limit sensitivity significantly. However, the suppression effect of the spin-exchange relaxation has not been examined quantitatively so far. Herein, we systematically investigate the relaxation of the alkali metal atoms and find that the spin-exchange relaxation is not completely eliminated under the normal operating condition of the K-Rb-21Ne comagnetometer. In addition to the optical pumping rate, the spin-exchange relaxation still plays a dominant role in the broadening of electron Zeeman resonances due to the large electron magnetic field. This is the first demonstration that the alkali metal atoms are operated in the near-SERF regime in the alkali metal-noble gas comagnetometer with a large election magnetic field, which will shed light on the way to reduce the relaxation of the alkali metal atoms and enhance the sensitivity of the comagnetometer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spin-exchange relaxation of electron spins directly affects the sensitivity of the atomic magnetometers. Rapid determination of the spin-exchange relaxation is essential. In this work, we propose a novel method for measuring the spin-exchange relaxation that allows being operated in the range of zero to earth-scale magnetic field. The longitudinal and transverse relaxation are synchronously extracted from the magnetic resonance linewidth and radio-frequency field amplitude corresponding to the maximum slope of the dispersive resonance curve. The spin-exchange relaxation is further obtained from the difference. The experimental results are consistent with the conventional linewidth fitting method in near-zero magnetic field and with the theoretical expectation in earth-scale magnetic field. This method not only improves authenticity compared to the conventional linewidth fitting method by considering the effect of rf field on relaxation, but also provides a fast and reliable measurement of the spin-exchange relaxation in earth-scale field. • A novel measurement of spin-exchange relaxation applicable in earth-scale field. • The transverse and longitudinal relaxation can be synchronously extracted. • Provide a way to evaluate the effect of spin-exchange relaxation suppression method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a novel method for measuring relaxation rates and Fermi-contact fields of the electron and nuclear spin ensembles rapidly and synchronously in spin-exchange relaxation-free (SERF) atomic comagnetometers based on the transient response. The transient response model of the comagnetometer is established by solving a set of Bloch equations. The decay rates and oscillation frequencies of the transient response as functions of the longitudinal magnetic field are investigated theoretically and experimentally. The total relaxation rate of the nuclear spin ensemble is obtained from its decay rate. A linear model is presented with a detailed mathematical derivation based on the decay rates and oscillation frequencies of the spin ensembles. The Fermi-contact fields of the spin ensembles and the slowing-down factor are extracted from the slope and intercept of the linear model. The total relaxation rate of the electron spins is obtained from the decay rates of the spin ensembles and the measured slowing-down factor. The validity of this method is further checked by the magnetic resonance (MR) method from a perspective of the electron resonance linewidth. Identification of these systematic parameters paves the way for operating the comagnetometers efficiently as well as the practical applications of the comagnetometers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]