Nanotesla-level, shield-less, field-compensation-free, wave-mixing-enhanced body-temperature atomic magnetometry for biomagnetism

Abstract

We report an optical inelastic-wave-mixing-enhanced atomic magnetometry technique that results in nT-level magnetic field detection at temperatures compatible with the human body without magnetic shielding, zero-field compensation, or high-frequency modulated phase-locking spectroscopy. Using Gaussian magnetic pulses that mimic the transient magnetic field produced by an action potential on a frog's nerve, we demonstrate more than 300,000-fold (550-fold) enhancement of magneto-optical rotation signal power spectral-density (power amplitude) over the conventional single-beam $\Lambda-$scheme atomic magnetometry method. This new technique may bring possibilities for extremely sensitive magnetic field imaging of biological systems accessible via an optical fiber in clinical environments.