We present a portable four-channel atomic magnetometer array operating in the spin exchange relaxation-free regime. The magnetometer array has several design features intended to maximize its suitability for biomagnetic measurement, specifically foetal magnetocardiography, such as a compact modular design and fibre coupled lasers. The modular design allows the independent positioning and orientation of each magnetometer. Using this array in a magnetically shielded room, we acquire adult magnetocadiograms. These measurements were taken with a 6–11 fT Hz−1/2 single-channel baseline sensitivity that is consistent with the independently measured noise level of the magnetically shielded room.

In atomic magnetometers, the vector AC-Stark shift associated with circularly polarized light generates spatially varying effective magnetic fields, which limit the magnetometer response and serve as sources of noise. We describe a scheme whereby optically pumping a small subvolume of the magnetometer cell and relying on diffusion to transport polarized atoms allows a magnetometer to be operated with minimal sensitivity to the AC-Stark field. © 2013 Optical Society of America