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Physical Review A

Magneto-optic drift of ions

Rupamanjari Ghosh, Sushanta Dattagupta, J. Singh

Published Nov 14, 2001• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Light-induced drift of optically active atoms in a buffer gas is a consequence of the unequal diffusive frictions suffered by the excited and the ground-state atoms. This drift can be used to create an ``optical piston,'' in which the active atoms are pushed forward by light through the semipermeable membrane of the buffer gas. Normally, optical piston effect is studied when the active atoms are neutral in a confined one-dimensional situation. We present a detailed theory of this phenomenon when the active atoms are charged and a magnetic field is applied for ``tuning'' the direction as well as the magnitude of the drift, thus removing the necessity of confinement. Our study is in different geometries of the light beam and the magnetic field, first in the weak collision model, and then for the strong collision and the Boltzmann-Lorentz models.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.64.063403

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Light-induced drift of optically active atoms in a buffer gas is a consequence of the unequal diffusive frictions suffered by the excited and the ground-state atoms. This drift can be used to create an optical piston,'' in which the active atoms are pushed forward by light through the semipermeable membrane of the buffer gas. Normally, optical piston effect is studied when the active atoms are neutral in a confined one-dimensional situation. We present a detailed theory of this phenomenon when the active atoms are charged and a magnetic field is applied for tuning'' the direction as well as the magnitude of the drift, thus removing the necessity of confinement. Our study is in different geometries of the light beam and the magnetic field, first in the weak collision model, and then for the strong collision and the Boltzmann-Lorentz models.
Light-induced drift arises when optically excited atoms with a Doppler-selected velocity suffer a diffusive friction that is different from that of ground-state atoms. When the atoms form an optically dense system, this drift can cause a piston effect, which sweeps the atoms in the propagation direction of the field. We derive coupled differential equations for the density of atoms and the light intensity, with an explicit expression for the drift velocity in terms of easily accessible parameters. Solutions of these equations are obtained for the stationary state in a closed cell. The density at the dark end of the cell, considered as the response to the incident-light intensity as its driving force, exhibits a discontinuity resembling a second-order phase transition for an optically dense system. We also obtain solutions with a soliton character, describing a localized density packet moving at uniform speed.
Na atoms in a buffer gas are compressed to a steep front by a laser beam tuned into the red Doppler wing of the Na DDD transition. The Na densities on either side of the front differ by a factor of 500. The front formation is due to a laser-induced drift which is a consequence of the state dependence of the diffusion cross sections involved. The Na drift velocity is deduced to be \ensuremath{\sim} 4 m/s.
We report an experimental and theoretical study of the optical piston, a consequence of the phenomenon of light-induced drift (LID), observed in binary mixtures of Na vapor and a buffer gas. Good agreement has been found between experiment and existing theory as far as the shape of the Na density profile in the piston is concerned. The piston velocity is anomalously low; this is accounted for by incorporating the effects of adsorption and desorption into the theory. Furthermore, we introduce a rate-equation model for LID which incorporates the fine and hyperfine structure of the level scheme of the Na absorbers; this gives insight into the sublevel velocity distributions and the nonequilibrium part of the total velocity distribution during LID.
A new light-induced drift effect is discussed in which a white-light source separates a gas mixture containing a single optically active (absorbing) species and a buffer gas which does not interact with the light. A three-level model with one upper level and two closely spaced lower levels is used for the active atoms, and strong collisions with the more abundant surrounding buffer gas atoms are assumed. The intensity spectrum in the vapor (including the effects of hyperfine pumping), and the resulting drift velocity are calculated as a function of optical depth into the vapor.