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arXiv:2605.20398 · Optica

Spatio-spectral vector light created by optical activity in rubidium vapor

Richard Aguiar Maduro, R. P. Schmidt, Mustafa A. Al Khafaji, Craig J. A. Millar, Sphinx J. Svensson, Andrey Surzhykov, Adam Selyem, Sonja Franke‐Arnold

Published Aug 31, 2026• 0 citations
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Abstract

We show that optical activity in atomic media can generate multidimensional correlations in frequency, polarization and spatial degrees of freedom, allowing us to observe frequency shifts as image rotations. Specifically, we demonstrate a pump-probe scheme, where optical pumping with circularly polarized light generates macroscopic magnetization in an atomic vapor, associated with frequency-dependent circular dichroism and birefringence. A vortex probe beam, characterized by spatially varying polarization, maps this optical activity onto the spatial structure of the transmitted light. Measuring the intensity profile in a suitable polarization component then allows us to perform spatially resolved polarization spectroscopy. On resonance we observe a rotation with a slope in the order of 98 mrad per MHz. These findings may find applications in image-based laser-locking, high-precision spectroscopy, magnetometry, and the generation of hybrid entanglement.

DOI
10.1364/optica.606117

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We show that optical activity in atomic media can generate multidimensional correlations in frequency, polarization and spatial degrees of freedom, allowing us to observe frequency shifts as image rotations. Specifically, we demonstrate a pump-probe scheme, where optical pumping with circularly polarized light generates macroscopic magnetization in an atomic vapor, associated with frequency-dependent circular dichroism and birefringence. A vortex probe beam, characterized by spatially varying polarization, maps this optical activity onto the spatial structure of the transmitted light. Measuring the intensity profile in a suitable polarization component then allows us to perform spatially resolved polarization spectroscopy. On resonance we observe a rotation with a slope in the order of 98 mrad per MHz. These findings may find applications in image-based laser-locking, high-precision spectroscopy, magnetometry, and the generation of hybrid entanglement.
We show that optical activity in atomic media can generate multidimensional correlations in frequency, polarization and spatial degrees of freedom, allowing us to observe frequency shifts as image rotations. Specifically, we demonstrate a pump-probe scheme, where optical pumping with circularly polarized light generates macroscopic magnetization in an atomic vapor, associated with frequency-dependent circular dichroism and birefringence. A vortex probe beam, characterized by spatially varying polarization, maps this optical activity onto the spatial structure of the transmitted light. Measuring the intensity profile in a suitable polarization component then allows us to perform spatially resolved polarization spectroscopy. On resonance we observe a rotation with a slope in the order of 98 mrad per MHz. These findings may find applications in image-based laser-locking, high-precision spectroscopy, magnetometry, and the generation of hybrid entanglement.
We demonstrate a pump-probe scheme in which an atomic vapor is optically pumped with circularly polarized light and probed with a vector vortex beam. The pump induces a macroscopic magnetization in the medium, which gives rise to frequency-dependent circular dichroism and birefringence. The vortex probe, characterized by spatially varying polarization, maps this optical activity onto the spatial structure of the transmitted light, thereby generating correlations between the frequency, polarization, and spatial degrees of freedom. Measuring the intensity profile in a suitable polarization component then allows us to perform spatially resolved polarization spectroscopy. We demonstrate the translation of frequency shifts into an image rotation, observing on resonance a rotation in the order of 98 mrad per MHz. These findings may find applications in high-precision spectroscopy, magnetometry, and the generation of hybrid entanglement.
Nonlinear resonances in alkali metal vapor, which are detected by the magneto-optical rotation of the linear polarization of light, are actively used in quantum magnetometry to fabricate atomic magnetometers. The magneto-optical rotation in most such sensors is due to magnetic birefringence, and rotation angles usually do not exceed tens of milliradians. In this work, an experiment where magneto-optical resonances of linear polarization rotation of a probe wave are due to strong dichroism induced in a medium by a counterpropagating pump wave has been proposed. Both waves are in resonance with the Fg = 2 → Fe = 1 optical transition in the 87Rb D1 line (λ ≈ 795 nm). Experiments have been carried out with a 2-cm-long cylindrical cell filled with a buffer gas, and the maximum rotation angle is ≈390 mrad (22°) at a width of resonance of about 300 nT. The results show that the configuration proposed for the observation of magneto-optical rotation is promising for the fabrication of compact high-sensitivity atomic magnetometers.
Nonlinear resonances in alkali metal vapor, which are detected by the magneto-optical rotation of the linear polarization of light, are actively used in quantum magnetometry to fabricate atomic magnetometers. The magneto-optical rotation in most such sensors is due to magnetic birefringence, and rotation angles usually do not exceed tens of milliradians. In this work, an experiment where magneto-optical resonances of linear polarization rotation of a probe wave are due to strong dichroism induced in a medium by a counterpropagating pump wave has been proposed. Both waves are in resonance with the Fg = 2 → Fe = 1 optical transition in the 87Rb D1 line (λ ≈ 795 nm). Experiments have been carried out with a 2-cm-long cylindrical cell filled with a buffer gas, and the maximum rotation angle is ≈390 mrad (22°) at a width of resonance of about 300 nT. The results show that the configuration proposed for the observation of magneto-optical rotation is promising for the fabrication of compact high-sensitivity atomic magnetometers.
In our previous studies, we reported polarization-dependent profile variations in modulation transfer spectroscopy, including enhanced error signals and modified absorption profiles, which could not be fully explained by conventional models. In this work, we propose a unified physical framework to interpret these phenomena by introducing the concept of atomic spatial polarization-dependent transmission. Using hybrid polarized vector beams as both pump and probe in a counter-propagating configuration, we demonstrate that polarization-induced anisotropic absorption arises from optical pumping dynamics mediated by the vector beam structure. We further show that, when coherent population trapping (CPT) is introduced via dual-frequency laser excitation, the formation of an atomic dark-state population markedly enhances transmission contrast and gives rise to pronounced spectral features. We observed that narrowing the full width at half maximum of the saturated absorption spectrum nearly doubled the MTS signal amplitude. These effects manifest as spatially modulated intensity patterns in the probe beam, thereby revealing CPT-enhanced, polarization-selective transmission in atomic media. Our results not only explain previously observed polarization-induced signal enhancements but also offer new insights into spatially coherent manipulation of atomic populations, with implications for precision spectroscopy and laser stabilization.
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.