A non-interference method for measurement of transverse relaxation time of the alkali metal magnetometer in nuclear magnetic resonance oscillator

The transverse relaxation time τ2 of the built-in alkali metal magnetometer is an important parameter to characterize its performance and the working state of the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) oscillator system. The method we propose to measure τ2 is to apply the frequency-scanning magnetic fields along the x-axis and obtain τ2 from the 3 dB bandwidth of the measured x-axis amplitude–frequency response curve of the magnetometer. We give a detailed and rigorous theoretical derivation by using the perturbation-iteration method to demonstrate the rationality of this measuring method. Then, both the actual experiment and the simulation experiment results are presented to verify the validity and good accuracy of the method. All the sampled frequencies in the scanning range should be far away from both the 129Xe and 131Xe NMR frequencies, to avoid introducing any influence on the nuclear spins; therefore, this method can provide a non-interference way for measurement of τ2, helping us monitor the NMR oscillator system’s state under normal operating conditions.