PSILOGO

Laboratory for Particle Physics (LTP)


LTP Colloquium

Atomic Magnetometers for biomagnetic Diagnostics and Neutron EDM Experiments

Thursday, April 6, 2006, 16:00
WHGA Auditorium

A. Weis, Fribourg University

Abstract:
Magnetometers based on optically pumped atomic vapors have been known for half a century. Recently the advent of compact, tunable lasers, which can replace the discharge lamps of conventional magnetometers, has renewed the interest in optical magnetometry. They allow one to realize more sensitive devices and permit to use a single light source for operating many sensor heads.

I will report on our research in optical magnetometry and discuss two applications of optically pumped magnetometers, viz., the measurement of dynamic field maps generated by the human heart and a new experiment searching for a permanent electric dipole moment of the neutron.