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arXiv:0911.4578 · Physical Review B

Spin noise of itinerant fermions

Šimon Kos, Alexander V. Balatsky, P. B. Littlewood, Darryl Lyle Smith

Published Feb 9, 2010• 12 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We develop a theory of spin-noise spectroscopy of itinerant, noninteracting, and spin-carrying fermions in different regimes of temperature and disorder. We use kinetic equations for the density matrix in spin variables. We find a general result with a clear physical interpretation, and discuss its dependence on temperature, the size of the system, and applied magnetic field. We consider two classes of experimental probes: (1) electron-spin-resonance-type measurements, in which the probe response to a uniform magnetization increases linearly with the volume sampled and (2) optical Kerr/Faraday rotation-type measurements, in which the probe response to a uniform magnetization increases linearly with the length of the light propagation in the sample but is independent of the cross section of the light beam. Our theory provides a framework for interpreting recent experiments on atomic gases and conduction electrons in semiconductors and provides a baseline for identifying the effects of interactions on spin-noise spectroscopy.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.81.064407

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We develop a theory of spin-noise spectroscopy of itinerant, noninteracting, and spin-carrying fermions in different regimes of temperature and disorder. We use kinetic equations for the density matrix in spin variables. We find a general result with a clear physical interpretation, and discuss its dependence on temperature, the size of the system, and applied magnetic field. We consider two classes of experimental probes: (1) electron-spin-resonance-type measurements, in which the probe response to a uniform magnetization increases linearly with the volume sampled and (2) optical Kerr/Faraday rotation-type measurements, in which the probe response to a uniform magnetization increases linearly with the length of the light propagation in the sample but is independent of the cross section of the light beam. Our theory provides a framework for interpreting recent experiments on atomic gases and conduction electrons in semiconductors and provides a baseline for identifying the effects of interactions on spin-noise spectroscopy.
Highly sensitive Faraday rotation spectroscopy is used to measure the fluctuating magnetization noise of noninteracting rubidium atoms under resonant and nonresonant optical probing conditions. The spin-noise frequency spectra, in conjunction with the probe light detuning with respect to the D2{D}_{2}D2​ transition, reveal clear signatures of coherent coupling of the participating electronic levels. The results are explained by extended Bloch equations, including homogeneous and inhomogeneous broadening mechanisms. Our measurements further indicate that spin noise originating from excited states is governed at high intensities by collective effects.
The spin-noise mechanisms in a spin-1 system are theoretically and experimentally investigated in detail. Eight different independent spin degrees of freedom are isolated, leading to spin-noise signals at the Larmor frequency or its second harmonic in the presence of a magnetic field. The signatures of these different modes of the detuned probe light beam polarization fluctuations, observed either as Faraday rotation noise or as ellipticity noise, are shown to depend dramatically on the probed transition. In particular, depending on the Zeeman structure of the upper level of the transitions, the different noise modes can be visible or not, and their dependence on the probe polarization can be completely modified. Those predictions are successfully compared with measurements of spin-noise signals using three different transitions of an ensemble of metastable 4He^{4}\mathrm{He}4He at room temperature.
Spin noise spectroscopy (SNS) allows optically detect the fluctuations of a spin ensemble. Such fluctuations induce noise in the birefringence of the medium, which can be probed by recording polarization fluctuations of a laser beam after its propagation through the sample. As spin fluctuations are centered on the zero frequency, a transverse magnetic field is applied: spin precession then shifts the spin noise resonance at the Larmor frequency, so that it is not hidden by technical noises. The first SNS experiment was reported in the early 1980s by Alexandrov and Zapasskii, but it is only in 2004 that advances in narrow linewidth lasers and low noise electronics allow using this technique to probe various systems, such as thermal atomic vapors, semiconductors, or quantum wells. It was also proposed for magnetic field sensing, and possible measurements of correlations beyond the second-order raise a lot of interest, as they can give access to new quantum phenomena. We have performed spin noise spectroscopy in a metastable helium gas cell, and show that we can get two polarization dependent noise peaks when we record the linear instead of the circular birefringence fluctuations. Moreover, the relatively simple structure of helium allows us to show that it depends on the closest optical transition even when we are detuned by more than the Doppler broadening. We can also show that the behavior of the polarization dependence is strongly affected by time dependent B-field fluctuations. We performed simulations using a density matrix time evolution model, with added random fluctuations. It reproduces quite well the experimental results, including the transition dependence and the time dependent B-field noise effect, which have not been reported yet.
Spin noise spectroscopy (SNS) is a new method for studying magnetic resonance and spin dynamics that has gained, in the last several years, a considerable popularity. The method is based on measuring magnetization noise of a paramagnet using the Faraday rotation technique. In strong contrast with methods of nonlinear optics, the spectroscopy of spin noise is considered to be essentially nonperturbative. At the same time, presently, it became clear that the SNS, as an optical technique, demonstrates abilities lying far beyond the bounds of conventional linear optics. Specifically, the SNS allows one to penetrate inside an inhomogeneously broadened absorption band and to determine its homogeneous width, to realize a sort of pump-probe spectroscopy without any optical nonlinearity, to probe a bulk inhomogeneous medium by focal point of a probe beam, etc. This may seem especially puzzling when taken into account that SNS can be considered just as a version of Raman spectroscopy, which is known to be deprived of such abilities. Understanding of these paradoxical features of SNS technique is required for the present-day applications of SNS and its further development. In this paper, we present a general analysis of this apparent inconsistency from the viewpoint of distinction between spectroscopy of the light intensity and of the light field and provide its resolution.
We describe a relatively non-invasive optical spectroscopy technique, known as spin noise spectroscopy (SNS), to probe spontaneous magnetization fluctuations in an alkali atomic vapor at thermal equilibrium. The atomic magnetization at a non-zero temperature fluctuates about its equilibrium value, and such magnetization (spin) noise imparts fluctuation in the measured Faraday rotation of a far-detuned, linearly polarized probe laser beam passing through the vapor. This Faraday rotation fluctuation reveals the intrinsic spin dynamics of the electrons in the alkali vapor. We present a systematic experimental study of the SNS realized in thermal rubidium vapor and illustrate how one can measure various magnetic and chemical properties of the sample with minimal perturbation. We also demonstrate the applicability of this spectroscopy technique in measuring the spin populations and their dynamics in different hyperfine and magnetic levels by optically pumping the atomic system.
The effect of magnetic resonance in the Faraday-rotation noise, demonstrated for the first time on an atom system more than 40 years ago, laid the foundations of a new research direction, the spin noise spectroscopy, that has been developing extensively in the last 20 years. Currently, the most popular research objects are atom and semiconductor paramagnetic materials, while research subjects are the magnetic resonance spectroscopy, the spin dynamics, the optical spectroscopy, the spectroscopy of light polarization noises. The rapid development of this new research direction laying at the interface between optics and radio spectroscopy continuously extends the field of its applicability and opens new opportunities to use it in the experimental physics. In this article we present a few episodes that are important stages in the spin noise spectroscopy development in the last years. The article was prepared as a report on the XV Russian Conference on the Physics of Semiconductors. Keywords: spin noise spectroscopy, magnetic resonance, optical anisotropy, inhomogeneous broadening.