We present a new characterisation technique for atomic vapor cells, combining time-domain measurements with absorption imaging to obtain spatially resolved information on decay times, atomic diffusion and coherent dynamics. The technique is used to characterise a 5 mm diameter, 2 mm thick microfabricated Rb vapor cell, with N2 buffer gas, placed inside a microwave cavity. Time-domain Franzen and Ramsey measurements are used to produce high-resolution images of the population (T1) and coherence (T2) lifetimes in the cell, while Rabi measurements yield images of the σ−, π and σ+ components of the applied microwave magnetic field. For a cell temperature of 90• C, the T1 times across the cell centre are found to be a roughly uniform 265 µs, while the T2 times peak at around 350 µs. We observe a 'skin' of reduced T1 and T2 times around the edge of the cell due to the depolarisation of Rb after collisions with the silicon cell walls. Our observations suggest that these collisions are far from being 100% depolarising, consistent with earlier observations made with Na and glass walls. Images of the microwave magnetic field reveal regions of optimal field homogeneity, and thus coherence. Our technique is useful for vapor cell characterisation in atomic clocks, atomic sensors, and quantum information experiments.
We report on widefield microwave vector field imaging with sub-100 m m resolution using a microfabricated alkali vapor cell. The setup can additionally image dc magnetic fields, and can be configured to image microwave electric fields. Our camera-based widefield imaging system records 2D images with a 6 × 6 mm 2 field of view at a rate of 10 Hz. It provides up to 50 m m spatial resolution, and allows imaging of fields as close as 150 m m above structures, through the use of thin external cell walls. This is crucial in allowing us to take practical advantage of the high spatial resolution, as feature sizes in near-fields are on the order of the distance from their source, and represent an order of magnitude improvement in surface-feature resolution compared to previous vapor cell experiments. We present microwave and dc magnetic field images above a selection of devices, demonstrating a microwave sensitivity of 1.4 T Hz 1 2 m per 50 50 140 m 3 ḿ´voxel, at present limited by the speed of our camera system. Since we image 120 × 120 voxels in parallel, a single scanned sensor would require a sensitivity of at least 12 nT Hz 1 2 to produce images with the same sensitivity. Our technique could prove transformative in the design, characterization, and debugging of microwave devices, as there are currently no satisfactory established microwave imaging techniques. Moreover, it could find applications in medical imaging.
Electric control of exchange bias (EB) is of vital importance in energy-efficient spintronics. Although many attempts have been made during the past decade, each has its own limitations for operation and thus falls short of full direct and reversible electrical control of EB at room temperature. Here, a novel approach is proposed by virtue of unipolar resistive switching to accomplish this task in a Si/SiO /Pt/Co/NiO/Pt device. By applying certain voltages, the device displays obvious EB in the high-resistance-state while negligible EB in the low-resistance state. Conductive filaments forming in the NiO layer and rupturing near the Co-NiO interface are considered to play dominant roles in determining the combined resistive switching and EB phenomena. This work paves a new way for designing multifunctional and nonvolatile magnetoelectric random access memory devices.
We report on the experimental measurement of the DC and microwave magnetic field distributions inside a recently-developed compact magnetron-type microwave cavity, mounted inside the physics package of a high-performance vapor-cell atomic frequency standard. Images of the microwave field distribution with sub-100 μm lateral spatial resolution are obtained by pulsed optical-microwave Rabi measurements, using the Rb atoms inside the cell as field probes and detecting with a CCD camera.Asymmetries observed in the microwave field images can be attributed to the precise practical realization of the cavity and the Rb vapor cell. Similar spatially-resolved images of the DC magnetic field distribution are obtained by Ramsey-type measurements. The T 2 relaxation time in the Rb vapor cell is found to be position dependent, and correlates with the gradient of the DC magnetic field. The presented method is highly useful for experimental in-situ characterization of DC magnetic fields and resonant microwave structures, for atomic clocks or other atom-based sensors and instrumentation.
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