detection of fetal magnetocardiography (fMCG). The individual magnetometers are
configured with a small volume with intense optical pumping, surrounded by a large pump-
free region. Spin-polarized atoms that diffuse out of the optical pumping region precess in
the ambient magnetic field and are detected by a probe laser. Four such magnetometers, at
the corners of a 7 cm square, are configured for gradiometry by feeding back the output of …