A ${}^3$He-${}^{21}$Ne Ramsey Comagnetometer with sub-nHz frequency resolution

Abstract

Nuclear spin comagnetometers offer exceptional precision in measurements of spin energy levels and exhibit long-term stability, making them powerful tools for probing spin-dependent physics beyond the Standard Model as well as for inertial rotation sensing. We describe a new ${}^3$He-${}^{21}$Ne Ramsey comagnetometer operating with an in-situ ${}^{87}$Rb magnetometer for initialization and sensing of nuclear spins. During free precession of nuclear spins we turn off all lasers and introduce a microwave field to suppress back-action from Rb atoms. We demonstrate that scalar and dipolar interactions between nuclear spins can be eliminated via control of the polarized sample geometry. These improvements result in a bias-free measurement with a frequency sensitivity of 0.6 nHz after 6 hours of integration.

5 pages, 4 figures