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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Zero-field atomic magnetometer to extract longitudinal magnetic field

Shuying Wang1,2,3, Jixi Lu1,2,4,*, Kaixuan Zhang4, Le Zhao1,2, Yibo Qi1,2, and Jiancheng Fang1,2,4,†

  • 1School of Instrumentation and Optoelectronic Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
  • 2Hefei National Laboratory, Hefei 230088, China
  • 3Shen Yuan Honors College, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
  • 4National Institute of Extremely-Weak Magnetic Field Infrastructure, Hangzhou 310051, China

  • *Contact author: lujixi@buaa.edu.cn
  • †Contact author: fangjiancheng@buaa.edu.cn
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Phys. Rev. Research 7, L032024 – Published 1 August, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/yjc6-b26g

Abstract

Zero-field atomic ensembles enable the development of ultrahigh-sensitivity magnetometry. However, their intrinsic insensitivity to longitudinal magnetic fields along the pumping direction poses a fundamental limitation, restricting precise weak-field quantification and complex system decoupling. Herein, we propose a novel zero-field weak parametric modulation scheme capable of ultrahigh-sensitivity extraction of longitudinal magnetic fields. Transverse modulation is employed to manifest the electron spin polarization projection induced by the longitudinal fields. Based on the perturbation model established, first-order parametric resonance associated with the longitudinal magnetic field yields significant signal enhancement under low-frequency and weak modulation conditions, while simultaneously suppressing spin-exchange relaxation caused by magnetic field modulation. We experimentally achieved a longitudinal measurement sensitivity of 16fT/Hz1/2, more than an order of magnitude improved over traditional schemes, with a bandwidth of 70 Hz. Benefiting from low spin relaxation, the noise floor of the transverse magnetic field measurement is preserved at 4 fT/Hz1/2. The proposed scheme pushes the boundaries of existing weak magnetic field measurement, providing critical capabilities for state-of-the-art precision experiments including new physical quantity detection.

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Phys. Rev. Research 7, L032024– Published 1 August, 2025
  • Received 5 December 2024
  • Revised 14 April 2025
  • Accepted 18 July 2025
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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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