Atomic magnetometer and magnetic sensing method

1. An atomic magnetometer comprising:

a light source for a probe beam; and

a medium in which the probe beam is to be propagated,

wherein said medium is a substance which changes a polarization rotation angle of the probe beam depending on a magnetic field intensity at a first measurement position and a magnetic field intensity at a second measurement position different from the first measurement position, and

wherein said atomic magnetometer optically measures directly a difference, on a propagation path of the probe beam, between the magnetic field intensity at the first measurement position and the magnetic field intensity at the second measurement position as a difference in polarization rotation angle.

2. A magnetometer according to claim 1 , wherein said atomic magnetometer comprises:

a cell having a hollow portion;

an atomic group contained in the hollow portion of said cell to constitute said medium;

a pump beam light source for irradiating said cell with circularly polarized light to polarize a spin of a plurality of atoms constituting said atomic group;

said light source, for the probe beam, for irradiating said cell with linearly polarized light as the probe beam; and

a detector for detecting information on a polarization rotation angle of the linearly polarized light,

wherein an irradiation direction of the circularly polarized light as a pump beam for the atomic group in the cell and an irradiation direction of the probe beam intersect with each other at the first measurement position, and an irradiation direction of the circularly polarized light as a pump beam for the atomic group in the cell and an irradiation direction of the probe beam having passed through the first measurement position intersect with each other at the second measurement position,

wherein a direction of polarization rotation of the probe beam on the basis of the magnetic field intensity at the first measurement position and a direction of polarization rotation of the probe beam on the basis of the magnetic field intensity at the second measurement position are different from each other, and

wherein said atomic magnetometer is configured to directly detect a difference between the magnetic field intensity at the first measurement position and the magnetic field intensity at the second measurement position as the polarization rotation angle.

3. A magnetometer according to claim 2 , wherein the first measurement position and the second measurement position are located in a first cell and a second cell, respectively, and a half-wave plate configured to pass the probe beam therethrough is provided between the first cell and the second cell.

4. A magnetometer according to claim 2 , wherein the first measurement position and the second measurement position are located in the cell, and optical path turning means for passing the probe beam, having passed through the first measurement position, through the second measurement position with an opposite traveling direction is provided.

5. A magnetometer according to claim 2 , wherein the first measurement position and the second measurement position are located in the cell, and

wherein both of the circularly polarized light for irradiation at the first measurement position and the circularly polarized light for irradiation at the second measurement position are either one of right-hand circularly polarized light and left-hand circularly polarized light, and the circularly polarized light for irradiation at the first measurement position and the circularly polarized light for irradiation at the second measurement position have traveling directions opposite from each other.

6. A magnetometer according to claim 2 , wherein the first measurement position and the second measurement position are located in the cell, and

wherein the circularly polarized light for irradiation at the first measurement position and the circularly polarized light for irradiation at the second measurement position have helicity opposite from each other and have the same traveling direction.

7. A magnetometer according to claim 2 , wherein said atomic magnetometer is configured to have another measurement position which is different from the first measurement position and the second measurement position which are located in the same cell.

8. A magnetometer according to claim 2 , wherein a member including a polarization element for equalizing a light intensity of right-hand circularly polarized light with a light intensity of left-hand circularly polarized light is provided, and

wherein said atomic magnetometer is configured to pass laser light from said pump beam light source through the member and then to irradiate simultaneously the cell with the right-hand circularly polarized light at the first measurement position and the left-hand circularly polarized light at the second measurement position different from the first measurement position.

9. A magnetic sensing method for measuring a polarization rotation angle of a probe beam by irradiating an atomic group contained in a hollow portion of a cell with a pump beam to uniformize directions of spin of atoms constituting the atomic group and then by irradiating the spin-polarized atomic group of the atoms with linearly polarized light as the probe beam, said magnetic sensing method comprising:

introducing the probe beam having a plane of polarization rotated by a magnetic field intensity at a first measurement position to a second measurement position different from the first measurement position so as to permit subtraction of the polarization rotation angle of the probe beam; and

obtaining information on a difference between a magnetic field intensity at the first measurement position and a magnetic field intensity at the second measurement position by measuring the polarization rotation angle of the probe beam having passed through the second measurement position.