Visualization of magnetic fields in space

What is it about?

We present a method allowing the tomographic visualization of scalar magnetic potential lines. Laser-induced fluorescence from a thin layer of spin-polarized atoms in a cubic glass cell is imaged by a CCD camera. Buffer gas hinders atomic motion and the fluorescence intensity pattern reflects the local magnetic field in the layer. A multi-component rf field selectively depolarizes atoms in regions of constant field which light up as bright lines in the image. Achieved resolutions: 1mm, few nT.

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Why is it important?

Beyond its educational aspect, the method has a high potential for imaging the strength and orientation of unknown magnetic fields. A variant of the method is currently being deployed in the Fribourg labs for the spatially-resolved recording of magnetorelaxation (MRX) signals from magnetic nanoparticles, an emerging powerful novel technology in the field of biomedical imaging. Other applications, such as the visualization of material defects can be envisioned.