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Optically pumped Cs magnetometers enabling a high-sensitivity search for the neutron electric dipole moment

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journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-07, 06:57 authored by Christopher Abel, S Afach, N J Ayres, G Ban, G Bison, K Bodek, V Bondar, E Chanel, P-J Chiu, C B Crawford, Z Chowdhuri, M Daum, Clark GriffithClark Griffith, M Musgrave, J Thorne, others
An array of 16 laser-pumped scalar Cs magnetometers was part of the neutron electric dipole moment (nEDM) experiment taking data at the Paul Scherrer Institute in 2015 and 2016. It was deployed to measure the gradients of the experiment's magnetic field and to monitor their temporal evolution. The originality of the array lies in its compact design, in which a single near-infrared diode laser drives all magnetometers that are located in a high-vacuum chamber, with a selection of the sensors mounted on a high-voltage electrode. We describe details of the Cs sensors' construction and modes of operation, emphasizing the accuracy and sensitivity of the magnetic-field readout. We present two applications of the magnetometer array directly beneficial to the nEDM experiment: (i) the implementation of a strategy to correct for the drift of the vertical magnetic-field gradient and (ii) a procedure to homogenize the magnetic field. The first reduces the uncertainty of the nEDM result. The second enables transverse neutron spin relaxation times exceeding 1500 s, improving the statistical sensitivity of the nEDM experiment by about 35% and effectively increasing the rate of nEDM data taking by a factor of 1.8.

Funding

Sussex Experimental Particle Physics 2015 Consolidated Grant; G1763; STFC-SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FACILITIES COUNCIL; ST/N000307/1

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Accepted version

Journal

Physical Review A

ISSN

1050-2947

Publisher

American Physical Society

Issue

5

Volume

101

Article number

a053419

Department affiliated with

  • Physics and Astronomy Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2020-05-07

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2020-06-09

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2020-05-06

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