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arXiv:2107.13302 · Optics Express

Cavity-enhanced polarization rotation measurements for low-disturbance probing of atoms

Chiara Mazzinghi, Daniel Benedicto Orenes, Pau Gomez, Vito Giovanni Lucivero, Enes Aybar, Stuti Gugnani, Morgan W. Mitchell

Published Nov 2, 2021• 7 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We propose and demonstrate cavity-enhanced polarization-rotation measurement as a means to detect magnetic effects in transparent media with greater sensitivity at equal optical disturbance to the medium. Using the Jones calculus, we compute the effective polarization rotation effect in a Fabry-Perot cavity containing a magnetic medium, including losses due to enclosure windows or other sources. The results show that when measuring polarization rotation, collecting the transmitted light has advantages in simplicity and linearity relative to collecting the reflected light. We demonstrate the technique by measuring Faraday rotation in a 87Rb atomic ensemble in the single-pass and cavity-enhanced geometries, and observe enhancement in good agreement with the theoretical predictions. We also demonstrate shot-noise-limited operation of the enhanced rotation scheme in the small-angle regime.

DOI
10.1364/oe.438675

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(English) In this work we propose and demonstrate cavity-enhanced polarization rotation to detect magnetic effects in transparent media with greater sensitivity at equal optical disturbance to the atomic medium. We use the Jones calculus to compute the effective polarization rotation effect in a cavity containing a magnetic medium. We include the losses due to enclosure window or other sources. The results show that to measure polarization rotation collecting the transmitted light has advantages in terms of linearity and simplicity with respect to collecting the reflected light. We show also the description of a "commensurate lattice'', to position the atoms at the anti-nodes of the probing light: this increases the atom-light coupling and therefore the cavity enhancement. The trapping light is also used to stabilize the cavity. 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The rotation of the polarization direction of linearly polarized light produced by the nonlinear magneto-optic effect has been proposed as a sensitive measure of small magnetic fields. In this paper, the advantages of this technique in optically thick media for precision magnetometry are discussed. Results are presented for measurements of this rotation for resonant light in optically dense Rb vapour under various conditions, with and without buffer gas. The sensitivity of the measurements of small magnetic field is investigated as a function of laser frequency, laser power, beam diameter and atomic density for D 1 line of 87Rb.

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We propose and demonstrate cavity-enhanced polarization-rotation measurement as a means to detect magnetic effects in transparent media with greater sensitivity at equal optical disturbance to the medium. Using the Jones calculus, we compute the effective polarization rotation effect in a Fabry-Perot cavity containing a magnetic medium, including losses due to enclosure windows or other sources. The results show that when measuring polarization rotation, collecting the transmitted light has advantages in simplicity and linearity relative to collecting the reflected light. We demonstrate the technique by measuring Faraday rotation in a 87Rb atomic ensemble in the single-pass and cavity-enhanced geometries, and observe enhancement in good agreement with the theoretical predictions. We also demonstrate shot-noise-limited operation of the enhanced rotation scheme in the small-angle regime.
We propose and demonstrate cavity-enhanced polarization-rotation measurement as a means to more sensitively detect magnetic effects in transparent media. Using the Jones calculus, we compute the effective polarization rotation effect in a Fabry-Perot cavity containing a magnetic medium, including losses due to enclosure windows or other sources. We observe that, in contrast to phase-measurement schemes such as Pound-Drever-Hall, when measuring polarization rotation the forward transmission configuration has advantages in terms of its simplicity and linearity. We demonstrate the technique by measuring Faraday rotation in a 87Rb atomic ensemble in the single-pass and cavity-enhanced geometries, and observe enhancement in good agreement with the theoretical predictions. We also demonstrate shot-noise-limited operation of the enhanced rotation scheme.
(English) In this work we propose and demonstrate cavity-enhanced polarization rotation to detect magnetic effects in transparent media with greater sensitivity at equal optical disturbance to the atomic medium. We use the Jones calculus to compute the effective polarization rotation effect in a cavity containing a magnetic medium. We include the losses due to enclosure window or other sources. The results show that to measure polarization rotation collecting the transmitted light has advantages in terms of linearity and simplicity with respect to collecting the reflected light. We show also the description of a "commensurate lattice'', to position the atoms at the anti-nodes of the probing light: this increases the atom-light coupling and therefore the cavity enhancement. The trapping light is also used to stabilize the cavity. Then we describe the experimental realization of the cavity and we demonstrate the theory described by measuring the Faraday rotation in a Rb-87 atomic ensemble in the single-pass and cavity enhanced geometries. We observe the enhancement given by the cavity in good agreement with the theoretical predictions. We also demonstrate shot-noise-limited operation of the enhanced rotation scheme in a small angle regime. We conclude with the expected squeezing effect given by the cavity in a cold and ultra-cold ensembles. The cavity tested gives a measurement squeezing 5 dB larger with respect to the SP case. (Català) En aquesta tesi, proposem i demostrem un mètode basat en cavitats òptiques per a la detecció millorada de la rotació de polarització (rotació de Faraday). L'objectiu d'aquesta tècnica és detectar efectes magnètics en materials transparents amb més sensibilitat a la mateixa pertorbació òptica del medi atòmic. Utilitzem el càlcul matricial de Jones per calcular lefecte de la rotació de la polarització en una cavitat òptica que conté el material magnètic. En el càlcul s'han inclòs diversos efectes dissipatoris, com les pèrdues per transmissió al segon mirall de la cavitat, entre d'altres. Els resultats mostren que per mesurar la rotació de la polarització, la detecció de la llum transmesa té avantatges en termes de linealitat i simplicitat pel que fa a la detecció de la llum reflectida. També mostrem la descripció teòrica de l'efecte d'una estructura de confinament òptica usada per posicionar els àtoms d'un gas atòmic ultrafred als antinodes de la llum de sondeig. Això dóna lloc a un augment de l'acoblament àtom-llum i, per tant, a la millora del mètode basat en la cavitat òptica. La llum de confinament també es fa servir per estabilitzar la cavitat. Després descrivim la realització experimental de la cavitat òptica i demostrem la teoria descrita comparant la rotació de Faraday mesurada en un gas atòmic de Rb en dues situacions: la geometria de pas únic i la millorada per la cavitat òptica. Observem la millora deguda a la cavitat en concordança amb les prediccions teòriques. També demostrem la detecció limitada pel soroll quàntic de la rotació de la polarització de la llum de sondeig en un règim d'angle petit d'aquesta rotació. Concloem amb el càlcul de l'efecte de spin-squeezing degut a la detecció millorada per la cavitat òptica en núvols d'àtoms freds i ultrafreds. L'ús de la cavitat òptica testejada resulta en un efecte de spin-squeezing 5 dB més gran que en el cas de la geometria de pas únic. (Español) En esta tesis, proponemos y demostramos un método basado en cavidades ópticas para la detección mejorada de la rotación de polarización (rotación de Faraday). El objetivo de esta técnica es detectar efectos magnéticos en materiales transparentes con mayor sensibilidad a igual perturbación óptica del medio atómico. Utilizamos el cálculo matricial de Jones para calcular el efecto de la rotación de la polarización en una cavidad óptica que contiene el material magnético. En el cálculo se han incluido diversos efectos disipatorios, como las pérdidas por transmisión en el segundo espejo de la cavidad, entre otras. Los resultados muestran que para medir la rotación de la polarización, la detección de la luz transmitida tiene ventajas en términos de linealidad y simplicidad con respecto a la detección de la luz reflejada. Mostramos también la descripción teórica del efecto de una estructura de confinamiento óptica usada para posicionar los átomos de un gas atómico ultrafrío en los antinodos de la luz de sondeo. Esto da lugar a un aumento del acoplamiento átomo-luz y, por lo tanto, a la mejora del método basado en la cavidad óptica. La luz de confinamiento también se utiliza para estabilizar la cavidad. Luego describimos la realización experimental de la cavidad óptica y demostramos la teoría descrita comparando la rotación de Faraday medida en un gas atómico de Rb en dos situaciones: la geometría de paso único y la mejorada por la cavidad óptica. Observamos la mejora debida a la cavidad en concordancia con las predicciones teóricas. También demostramos la detección limitada por el ruido cuántico de la rotación de la polarización de la luz de sondeo en un régimen de ángulo pequeño de dicha rotación. Concluimos con el cálculo del efecto de spin-squeezing debido a la detección mejorada por la cavidad óptica en nubes de átomos fríos y ultrafríos. El uso de la cavidad óptica testeada resulta en un efecto de spin-squeezing 5 dB mayor que en el caso de la geometría de paso único.
The sensitivity of miniaturized optically pumped magnetometers (OPMs) is limited by weak atom-light coupling, which an optical cavity can enhance. In this work, we model the photon-shot-noise-limited sensitivity of cavity-enhanced OPMs in the regime of strongly collisionally broadened optical transitions, characteristic of buffer-gas-filled miniaturized vapor cells. The cavity enhancement is benchmarked against a single-pass free-induction-decay OPM employing Faraday-rotation readout, with the probe power and detuning jointly optimized using the Cramér-Rao lower bound as a figure of merit. For a Fabry-Pérot cavity, we compare side-of-fringe, homodyne, Pound-Drever-Hall, and Faraday-rotation readout. All four yield an optimal sensitivity enhancement scaling as α2F/πα\sqrt{2\mathcal{F}/π}α2F/π​, where F\mathcal{F}F is the cavity finesse and 0.5≤α≤10.5\leq α\leq 10.5≤α≤1 is a readout-dependent prefactor. The enhancement is maximized at critical coupling, and we quantify its degradation away from this point. We further show that, despite spin-dependent absorption associated with the ensemble's vector polarizability, near-critical coupling can be maintained throughout spin precession at arbitrary finesse by exceeding a derived probe-power threshold and increasing the atomic detuning with finesse. We also establish a limit to the maximum cavity enhancement set by vector light-shift noise.
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.
A new method to measure the spin polarization of optically pumped alkali-metal atoms is demonstrated. Unlike the conventional method using far-detuned probe light, the near-resonant light with two specific frequencies was chosen. Because the Faraday rotation angle of this approach can be two orders of magnitude greater than that with the conventional method, this approach is more sensitive to the spin polarization. Based on the results of the experimental scheme, the spin polarization measurements are found to be in good agreement with the theoretical predictions, thereby demonstrating the feasibility of this approach.
The rotation of the polarization direction of linearly polarized light produced by the nonlinear magneto-optic effect has been proposed as a sensitive measure of small magnetic fields. In this paper, the advantages of this technique in optically thick media for precision magnetometry are discussed. Results are presented for measurements of this rotation for resonant light in optically dense Rb vapour under various conditions, with and without buffer gas. The sensitivity of the measurements of small magnetic field is investigated as a function of laser frequency, laser power, beam diameter and atomic density for D 1 line of 87Rb.