Possibilities for Measuring Weak Magnetic Fields by Methods of Optical Orientation of Atoms

I. E. Grinko, A. M. Skripkin

Isidor Isaac Rabi

The effect of a rapidly varying weak magnetic field on an oriented atom possessing nuclear spin is discussed. The results are applied to an experiment by Frisch and Segr\`e. It is shown that by methods embodying these principles one can measure nuclear spin even when the h.f.s. separation is very small. A possible further application is discussed whereby it is possible to measure the sign of nuclear magnetic moment vector with respect to the spin vector.

Evgenii B. Aleksandrov, O. V. Konstantinov, V. I. Perel

Valery Milner, Yehiam Prior

We experimentally create and theoretically explain a different type of highly anisotropic atomic angular-momentum distribution with two preferential axes. Such a biaxial spatial orientation is created by optical pumping with elliptically polarized light, and measured by the observation of coherent population trapping in a weak external magnetic field. We probe the angular-momentum distribution by the Hanle configuration, and observe two dark resonances at nonzero magnetic fields---the expected signature of the biaxial spatial geometry. A direct method for preparing arbitrarily oriented atomic ensembles is discussed.

Takayuki Kurosu, Yasuhiro Fukuyama, Kentaro Abe +1 more

Igor M. Beterov, A. Dudnikov, Vasily M. Entin +1 more

The experiments on transient phenomena in pulsed optical orientation of Rb atoms by the emissions of semiconductor lasers are presented. With using probe field method it was found that macroscopic magnetic momentum induced by strong pulsed laser field is processing in weak magnetic field causing Larmor oscillations of the absorption coefficient of probe field. The same effect was observed at fast changing of direction of the magnetic field.