Design of Portable Self-Oscillating VCSEL-Pumped Cesium Atomic Magnetometer

Abstract

With the demand for fast response of magnetic field measurement and the development of laser diode technology, self-oscillating laser-pumped atomic magnetometers have become a new development trend. In this work, we designed a portable self-oscillating VCSEL-pumped Cs atom magnetometer, including the probe (optical path) and circuits. The signal amplification and feedback loop of the magnetometer, VCSEL laser control unit, and atomic cell temperature control unit were realized. We tested the performance of the magnetometer in the metering station. Finally, The performance of the VCSEL-pumped magnetometer designed in this work was compared with that of a CS-3 lamp-pumped self-oscillating atomic magnetometer; their performance was found to be mostly in the same order of magnitude, while the power consumption of our magnetometer was 3 W less than that of the CS-3. This work represents an exploratory attempt to integrate and miniaturize a portable self-oscillating VCSEL-pumped Cs atomic magnetometer.