Development of spin-exchange relaxation free magnetometer with a compact heating system

Atomic magnetometers based on spin-exchange relaxation free (SERF) regime typically operate with the high optical density and low magnetic fields. We present SERF magnetometer with a compact heating system for compact and efficient temperature control. A resistive heating system with high frequency alternating current was used to achieve high optical density. The current frequency was carefully chosen to avoid resonance with the atomic magnetometer. This resulted in a compact heating system that also allows independent operation of multiple heating systems. Optical rotation signal was obtained at 200 oC and width was about 3 nT with pump laser power of 55 mW. Bandwidth of the magnetometer with the compact heater was 40 Hz. Consequently, the compact resistive heating system proved to be a good alternative to the air-flow heating system. Additionally, residual field effect and signal-to-noise yielded a sensitivity of 50 fT/Hz1/2 at 10 Hz.