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arXiv:1102.4041 · Physical Review A

Polarization self-rotation in ultracold atomic Rb87

Travis Horrom, Salim Balik, A. Lezama, Mark D. Havey, Eugeniy E. Mikhailov

Published May 31, 2011• 17 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We report on a combined experimental and theoretical study of polarization self-rotation in an ultracold atomic sample. In the experiments, a probe laser is tuned in the spectral vicinity of the ${D}_{1}$ line to observe polarization self-rotation in a sample of ultracold $^{87}\mathrm{Rb}$ prepared in a magneto-optical trap (MOT). Systematic measurements of the rotation angle of the light-polarization ellipse as a function of laser intensity, initial ellipticity, and detuning are made. The observations, in good agreement with theoretical simulations, are indicative of the presence of a residual static magnetic field, resulting in measured asymmetries in the rotation angle for right and left ellipticities. In this paper we present our detailed experimental results and analysis of the combined influences of polarization self-rotation and the Faraday effect.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.83.053850

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We present an experimental and theoretical study of self-rotation of optical polarization in a rubidium vapor.The atomic vapor is placed in a magnetic shielding cavity to suppress the Faraday rotation effect.In our experiment, Doppler-free spectroscopy configuration is used, and F = 2 → F = 3 transition of 87 Rb D2 line is chosen.We observe self-rotation of optical polarization effect at different pump light ellipticities.A theoretical analysis is then provided based on the experimental conditions.Theoretical simulation and experimental results are in good agreement.
We theoretically and experimentally study the effects of Faraday rotation, optical polarization of self-rotation, and their overlapping rotation. In our theoretical simulation, we set up a simple and effective theoretical model for the three kinds of rotations. In our experiment, the atomic vapor is placed in a magnetic shielding cavity to shield the earth magnetic field. Doppler-free spectrum configuration is used and the F=2 F'=3 transition of 87Rb D2 line is chosen. We observe the three kinds of rotations, separately. Experimental results and theoretical simulations are in good agreement.
We report measurements of near-resonance light scattering from an ultracold sample of 87Rb^{87}\text{R}\text{b}87Rb atoms formed in a magneto-optical trap (MOT). Time-dependent measurements of scattering of probe radiation tuned in the vicinity of the $F=1\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{F}^{\ensuremath{'}}=0$ hyperfine transition of the D2{D}_{2}D2​ resonance line reveal dynamics due to Zeeman optical pumping on this transition in competition with diffusive light scattering in the optically dense sample. Zeeman mixing effects due to small residual magnetic fields also play an important role in the scattered light dynamics and reveal surprising sensitivity to the field strength. The various processes are examined as a function of probe-laser power, detuning from atomic resonance, and the presence or absence of the spatially inhomogeneous MOT quadrupole field.
Large Faraday rotations can be generated by circular birefringence of atomic samples in an axial magnetic field in the vicinity of atomic resonance lines. More generally, magneto-optical effects in atomic samples include circular dichroism in addition to birefringence, resulting in a modification of the ellipticity as well as the polarization alignment. Usually such effects are investigated for homogeneous linear polarizations, but the mechanisms apply also to polarization structures such as vector vortices. We investigate the effect of optical activity of a rubidium vapor in the hyperfine Paschen–Back regime along the D2 line, for the example of azimuthally polarized input light. We show that for low atomic densities, circular birefringence dominates over dichroism, and azimuthal polarization is rotated toward radial polarization. The rotation angle increases with increasing optical densities. At high vapor temperatures, dichroism becomes more and more relevant, leading to intricate variations of both alignment and ellipticity. Our results shine new light on the interplay between different magneto-optic effects at strong magnetic fields. Their highly sensitive response to detuning may find applications in spectroscopy and quantum sensing.
The dependencies of the polarization rotation on the probe ellipticity and the longitudinal magnetic field have been studied both experimentally and theoretically in a V-type electromagnetically induced transparency for 87Rb vapour. The angle of rotation varies periodically with the change in the probe ellipticity and non-linearly with the variation of the magnetic field. We have observed that the plane of polarization is rotated maximum for linearly polarized light and have obtained angle of rotation 0.32° ± 0.01° for B = 0.036 ± 0.001 mT while it was 0.0267° ± 0.0002° without magnetic field. Thus our measurement becomes sensitive to the low magnetic field. A four-level system is considered and the corresponding density matrix equations have been solved analytically to explain these observations theoretically with the help of degenerate and non-degenerate magnetic sub-levels.