Low-noise high-density alkali-metal scalar magnetometer

We present an experimental and theoretical study of a scalar atomic magnetometer using an oscillating field-driven Zeeman resonance in a high-density optically pumped potassium vapor. We describe an experimental implementation of an atomic gradiometer with a noise level below 10 fT Hz(-1/2), fractional field sensitivity below 10(-9) Hz(-1/2), and an active measurement volume of about 1.5 cm(3). We show that the fundamental field sensitivity of a scalar magnetometer is determined by the rate of alkali-metal spin-exchange collisions even though the resonance linewidth can be made much smaller than the spin-exchange rate by pumping most atoms into a stretched spin state.