Open-Source Magnetometer for Characterizing Magnetic Fields in Ultracold Experiments

Abstract

We demonstrate a fully automated open-source magnetometer designed primarily for characterization of magnetic fields produced by coils, permanent magnets or by parasitic sources. It is based on an Arduino Mega microcontroller and a three-axis Hall sensor with a measurement range of ±8 G per axis and the RMS of the field readout below 0.3 mG. For all practical purposes, the sensor displacement during data acquisition is virtually unlimited, which can be particularly useful for characterizing large or extended coils like Helmholtz cages or Zeeman slowers. All components needed for the construction are cheap and widely available off-the-shelf elements or are 3D-printed. The operation of the magnetometer is controlled via a graphical user interface (GUI), which manages all essential functionalities, like data acquisition and plotting. The GUI also incorporates additional features, like data averaging, calibration of the displacement of the Hall sensor or real-time readout of the magnetic field, useful for monitoring magnetic field changes. We have used a pair of rectangular coils constructed for a potassium–cesium 2D magneto-optical trap to benchmark the performance of the magnetometer. We have obtained good agreement with both simulations and measurements acquired with a commercial gaussmeter.