Regular Article

Study of ³He Rabi nutations by optically-pumped cesium magnetometers

¹ Physics Department, University of Fribourg, 1700, Fribourg, Switzerland
² Department of Physics, Johannes Gutenberg-University, 55122 Mainz, Germany
³ Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 Villigen, Switzerland
⁴ Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Berlin, Germany
⁵ Ioffe Physical Technical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 194021 St. Petersburg, Russia

^a e-mail: kochhc@googlemail.com

Received: 30 March 2017
Received in final form: 3 August 2017
Published online: 19 October 2017

Abstract

We describe a method for recording the Rabi nutation of nuclear spin polarized ³He by optically pumped cesium magnetometers. The measurement is performed by detecting the time-dependent magnetic field produced by the ³He magnetization. The observed signals are compared to theoretical models and the results are used to precisely trace the evolution of the magnetization. This procedure represents a convenient way to control and measure the Rabi flip angle and the degree of spin polarization in experiments using ³He magnetometers. The method requires only very coarse knowledge of the applied magnetic field’s magnitude.