Cold-atom buoy: A differential magnetic sensing technique in cold quadrupole traps

Kurkó, Árpád and Nagy, Dániel and Simon, Alexandra and Clark, Thomas and Dombi, András and Varga, Dániel and Williams, Francis and Fortágh, József and Domokos, Péter and Vukics, András (2026) Cold-atom buoy: A differential magnetic sensing technique in cold quadrupole traps. PHYSICAL REVIEW APPLIED, 25 (054063). ISSN 2331-7019

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Abstract

We present a differential technique for vector magnetic sensing based on a cold-atom cloud in a magnetic quadrupole trap. An external homogeneous magnetic field displaces the trap center in a direction and with a magnitude proportional to the field. By reversing the quadrupole polarity between experimental shots and comparing the resulting cloud positions, we extract a differential displacement signal that is free from common-mode effects such as gravity and weak magnetic field inhomogeneities. The signal is directionally proportional to the external field and requires only absorption imaging, without spectroscopic interrogation. Assuming micron-scale position resolution, the technique enables field resolution at the milligauss level. It offers a practical tool for field compensation in magnetically sensitive experimental stages, bridging operational regimes from Earth-level fields to atomic magnetometry. A straightforward extension to full three-dimensional sensing is possible with only a minimal addition to standard cold-atom infrastructure.

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