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arXiv:2407.11323 · Review of Scientific Instruments

Rydberg electromagnetically induced transparency based laser lock to Zeeman sublevels with 0.6 GHz scanning range

Alexey Vylegzhanin, Síle Nic Chormaic, Dylan Brown

Published Nov 1, 2024• 5 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We propose a technique for frequency locking a laser to the Zeeman sublevel transitions between the 5P3/2 intermediate and 32D5/2 Rydberg states in 87Rb. This method allows for continuous frequency tuning over 0.6 GHz by varying an applied external magnetic field. In the presence of the applied field, the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) spectrum of an atomic vapor splits via the Zeeman effect according to the strength of the magnetic field and the polarization of the pump and probe lasers. We show that the 480 nm pump laser, responsible for transitions between the Zeeman sublevels of the intermediate state and the Rydberg state, can be locked to the Zeeman-split EIT peaks. The short-term frequency stability of the laser lock is 0.15 MHz, and the long-term stability is within 0.5 MHz. The linewidth of the laser lock is ∼0.8 and ∼1.8 MHz in the presence and absence of the external magnetic field, respectively. In addition, we show that in the absence of an applied magnetic field and adequate shielding, the frequency shift of the lock point has a peak-to-peak variation of 1.6 MHz depending on the polarization of the pump field, while when locked to Zeeman sublevels, this variation is reduced to 0.6 MHz. The proposed technique is useful for research involving Rydberg atoms, where large continuous tuning of the laser frequency with stable locking is required.

DOI
10.1063/5.0229024

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We propose a technique for frequency locking a laser to the Zeeman sublevel transitions between the 5P3/2 intermediate and 32D5/2 Rydberg states in 87Rb. This method allows for continuous frequency tuning over 0.6 GHz by varying an applied external magnetic field. In the presence of the applied field, the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) spectrum of an atomic vapor splits via the Zeeman effect according to the strength of the magnetic field and the polarization of the pump and probe lasers. We show that the 480 nm pump laser, responsible for transitions between the Zeeman sublevels of the intermediate state and the Rydberg state, can be locked to the Zeeman-split EIT peaks. The short-term frequency stability of the laser lock is 0.15 MHz, and the long-term stability is within 0.5 MHz. The linewidth of the laser lock is ∼0.8 and ∼1.8 MHz in the presence and absence of the external magnetic field, respectively. In addition, we show that in the absence of an applied magnetic field and adequate shielding, the frequency shift of the lock point has a peak-to-peak variation of 1.6 MHz depending on the polarization of the pump field, while when locked to Zeeman sublevels, this variation is reduced to 0.6 MHz. The proposed technique is useful for research involving Rydberg atoms, where large continuous tuning of the laser frequency with stable locking is required.
Abstract We demonstrate a robust method of direct laser frequency locking on the Zeeman sublevel transitions between an intermediate state and Rydberg states, with continuously tunable frequency range from −35 MHz to +35 MHz, which is based on electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) spectra of nondegenerate Zeeman sublevels in a Rydberg cascade system. With a small axial magnetic field, the EIT spectrum will split into two individual sub-peaks due to the Zeeman Effect of three energy levels, including the 133 Cs 6S 1/2 , 6P 3/2 and n l Rydberg states which form the cascade system. It is shown that the coupling field, corresponding to the transitions between the Zeeman sublevels of the intermediate state and Rydberg state, can be locked arbitrarily on any one of the two EIT sub-peaks. The frequency stability of locked lasers is bounded by 0.81 MHz. The root of Allan variance of the frequency reaches a minimum of 2.06 × 10 − 8 for an averaging time of 512 s.
We herein develop and demonstrate a stable frequency-locking scheme for Rydberg atomic experiments. We use the Zeeman effect to modulate the three-level ladder-type Rydberg electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) signal to lock the laser frequency of the coupling light for transition from its intermediate state to a Rydberg state. The effects of polarization of the probe and coupling lights, and the amplitude of the AC modulated magnetic field B 0 on the EIT and the corresponding dispersive error signal, are both analyzed. The results show that both the EIT signal and dispersive error signal are the strongest when the polarizations of coupling and probe fields are circular and equal. The signal-to-noise ratio of the dispersive error signal increases with B 0 . The slope of the dispersive error signal increases first and then decreases with B 0 , which is related to the increase of the EIT linewidth caused by the higher B 0 . The linewidth of the laser is significantly less than 500 kHz after frequency locking, which satisfies the requirements of most experiments involving Rydberg atoms. The method proposed herein can generally be applied to any cascade system of Rydberg atoms.
We propose a method to continuously frequency shift a target laser that is frequency stabilized by a reference laser, which is several hundreds of nanometers detuned. We demonstrate the technique using the 5S1/2→ 5P3/2→ 29D5/2Rydberg transition in87Rb vapor and lock the 482 nm target laser to the 780 nm reference laser using the cascaded electromagnetically induced transparency signal. The stabilized frequency of the target laser can be shifted by about 1.6 GHz by phase modulating the reference laser using a waveguide-type electro-optical modulator. This simple method for stable frequency shifting can be used in atomic or molecular physics experiments that require a laser frequency scanning range on the order of several GHz.
Rydberg-assisted atomic electrometry with thermal vapors offers a promising approach for detecting external electric fields. However, this technique presents significant challenges for measuring low frequencies due to the effects of metal-alkali atoms adsorbed on the interior surface of the vacuum chamber. In this work, we apply high-contrast Rydberg electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) spectroscopy to systematically investigate these effects, including the influence of laser power and electric field strength. We demonstrate the ability to measure electric field frequencies ranging from 10 Hz to 1 MHz. Additionally, this study identifies a fundamental limit for data capacity in such measurements. Furthermore, we propose a method for precise Stark shift measurements by locking the coupling laser to Zeeman-split Rydberg EIT peaks. Using the Zeeman shift in a reference cell as a stable frequency reference, we are able to track Stark-induced shifts in a science cell and confirm excellent agreement with theoretical predictions. These results provide valuable insights for future precision measurement techniques and field sensing applications based on Rydberg atom systems.
We demonstrate a technique to lock the frequency of a laser to a transition between two excited states in Rb vapor using a two-photon process in the presence of a weak magnetic field. We use a ladder configuration from specific hyperfine sublevels of the 5S1/2, 5P3/2, and 5D5/2 levels. This atomic configuration can show electromagnetically induced transparency and absorption processes. The error signal comes from the difference in the transparency or absorption felt by the two orthogonal polarizations of the probe beam. A simplified model is in good quantitative agreement with the observed signals for the experimental parameters. We have used this technique to lock the frequency of the laser up to 1.5 GHz off atomic resonance.
The polarization spectra of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) for Zeeman sublevels in a cascade system with Rydberg state are demonstrated. The magnitude dependence of Rydberg-EIT on the polarizations of probe and coupling laser fields is studied, and shown mainly due to the strengths of relative dipole matrix elements between degenerate Zeeman sublevels. We further investigate the polarization spectra of Rydberg-EIT in the optimal polarization combinations of left-handed and right-handed circularly polarized fields when an external magnetic field is applied. The existence of nondegenerate Zeeman sublevels in an external magnetic field results in the splitting of Rydberg-EIT. The theoretical calculations are very consistent with the experimental spectra.