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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Unambiguous vector magnetometry with structured light in atomic vapor

S. Ramakrishna* and S. Fritzsche

  • *Contact author: shreyas.ramakrishna@uni-jena.de
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Phys. Rev. A 113, L031102 – Published 25 March, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/b47h-pdv9

Abstract

Absorption profiles of vector light upon interaction with atomic vapor carries distinct signatures of an external magnetic field vector. However, this signature becomes ambiguous for antiparallel magnetic field vectors of equal magnitude, which makes their absorption profiles visually indistinguishable. To resolve this ambiguity, we present a theoretical analysis of the interaction of vector light with optically polarized atoms immersed in reference and test magnetic fields. Furthermore, we demonstrate the complete characterization of the arbitrarily oriented test magnetic field via a Fourier analysis of the absorption profile. This analysis reveals a one-to-one correspondence between the magnetic field properties and the profile's contrast and rotational angle. Our findings open an avenue to design an optical vector atomic magnetometer based on structured light fields.

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Phys. Rev. A 113, L031102– Published 25 March, 2026
  • Received 10 November 2025
  • Revised 24 February 2026
  • Accepted 4 March 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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