Work

Synergy between laser linewidth and frequency chirp in mesospheric magnetometry based on the sodium laser guide star

Year: 2026

Type: preprint

Abstract: Mesospheric sodium magnetometry with a laser guide star measures the geomagnetic field near 90~km. Its sensitivity hinges on laser linewidth and chirp, yet prior work optimized these two parameters only separately. We use velocity-resolved density-matrix simulations of Larmor-synchronous pulsed Na D$_2$ pumping to scan both parameters jointly. Linewidth and chirp exhibit a synergy: when chirping carries the recoil-mitigation role, the return flux stays within 1\% of its peak across linewidths of 2--10~MHz. The flux-optimal chirp is $0.19~\mathrm{MHz/\upmu s}$, one fifth of the continuous-wave rate; this synergy guides high-sensitivity mesospheric magnetometer design.

Source: arXiv (Cornell University)

DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2608.28466

Authors: Yang, Yucheng, Lei, Chunyang, Guo, Kai, Wang, Shuai

Institutions: Peking University, Chinese Academy of Surveying and Mapping, PLA Academy of Military Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Optics and Electronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Language: English

Topic: Atomic and Subatomic Physics Research

Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Natural Science Foundation of China

Award: G8302960796

OpenAlex ID: W7204751529

Cites: 1

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Related to: 10