MAGNETOMETERS BASED ON THE OPTICAL-PUMPING OF ATOMS - STATUS AND PROSPECTS

This paper discusses the status and prospects of investigations and de velopments involving measurements of the modulus of weak magnetic fiel ds by double radio-optic resonance in atomic media. Primary attention is directed at magnetometers employing vapors of stable isotopes of po tassium, using the isolated narrow (0.1-1 nT) EPR spectral line. It is shown that these instruments combine fast response with a record-high variational sensitivity (to 10 fT/Hz(-1/2)) and long-term reading sta bility (similar to 1-10 pT) within the entire range of geomagnetic fie lds.