We demonstrate an all-optical magnetometer capable of measuring the magnitude and direction of a magnetic field using nonlinear magneto-optical rotation in cesium vapor. Vector capability is added by effective modulation of the field along orthogonal axes and subsequent demodulation of the magnetic-resonance frequency. This modulation is provided by the ac Stark shift induced by circularly polarized laser beams. The sensor exhibits a demonstrated rms noise floor of ∼65  fT/√[Hz] in measurement of the field magnitude and 0.5  mrad/√[Hz] in the field direction; elimination of technical noise would improve these sensitivities to 12  fT/√[Hz] and 10  μrad/√[Hz], respectively. Applications for this all-optical vector magnetometer would include magnetically sensitive fundamental physics experiments, such as the search for a permanent electric dipole moment of the neutron.

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Recent work investigating resonant nonlinear magneto-optical rotation (NMOR) related to longlived (τ rel ∼ 1 s) ground-state atomic coherences has demonstrated potential magnetometric sensitivities exceeding 10 −11 G/ √ Hz for small ( < ∼ 1 µG) magnetic fields. In the present work, NMOR using frequency-modulated light (FM NMOR) is studied in the regime where the longitudinal magnetic field is in the geophysical range (∼ 500 mG), of particular interest for many applications. In this regime a splitting of the FM NMOR resonance due to the nonlinear Zeeman effect is observed. At sufficiently high light intensities, there is also a splitting of the FM NMOR resonances due to ac Stark shifts induced by the optical field, as well as evidence of alignment-to-orientation conversion type processes. The consequences of these effects for FM-NMOR-based atomic magnetometry in the geophysical field range are considered.

Atomic magnetometry was performed at Earth's magnetic field over a free-space distance of ten meters. Two laser beams aimed at a distant alkali-vapor cell excited and detected the 87 Rb magnetic resonance, allowing the magnetic field within the cell to be interrogated remotely. Operated as a driven oscillator, the magnetometer measured the geomagnetic field with 3.5 pT precision in a ∼2 s data acquisition; this precision was likely limited by ambient field fluctuations. The sensor was also operated in self-oscillating mode with a 5.3 pT/ √ Hz noise floor. Further optimization will yield a high-bandwidth, fully remote magnetometer with sub-pT sensitivity.

Water vapor is measured by use of a near-infrared diode laser and wavelength-modulation absorption spectroscopy. Humidity levels as low as 5 nmol/mol [1 nmol/mol = 1 ppb (1 ppb equals 1 part in 10(9))] of water vapor in air are measured with a sensitivity of better than 0.2 nmol/mol (3varsigma). The sensitivity, linearity, and stability of the technique are determined in experiments conducted at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland, by use of the low frost-point humidity generator over the range from 5 nmol/mol to 2.5 mumol/mol of water vapor in air. The pressure-broadening coefficients for water broadened by helium [0.0199(6) cm(-1) atm(-1) HWHM] and by hydrogen chloride [0.268(6) cm(-1) atm(-1) HWHM] are reported for the water line at 1392.5 nm.