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Measurement Science and Technology

Resonance-enhanced ionization spectroscopy of laser-cooled rubidium atoms

C. Gabbanini, F. Ceccherini, Silvia Gozzini, A. Lucchesini

Published Jul 27, 1999• 5 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We report the utilization of resonance-enhanced ionization to perform high-resolution spectroscopy on laser-cooled atoms. The technique is applied to the 5S 1/2 5P 3/2 5D J ( J = (3/2), (5/2)) optical double resonances of rubidium atoms in a magneto-optical trap. Ions generated when atoms in the double excited state absorb a single photon are detected, together with the induced fluorescence. The two detection channels are compared for this class of high-resolution spectroscopy experiment.

DOI
10.1088/0957-0233/10/9/302

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We report the utilization of resonance-enhanced ionization to perform high-resolution spectroscopy on laser-cooled atoms. The technique is applied to the 5S 1/2 5P 3/2 5D J ( J = (3/2), (5/2)) optical double resonances of rubidium atoms in a magneto-optical trap. Ions generated when atoms in the double excited state absorb a single photon are detected, together with the induced fluorescence. The two detection channels are compared for this class of high-resolution spectroscopy experiment.
The authors have used laser cooling and trapping techniques to investigate photoionization and cold collisions. With laser-trapped Rb, they have measured the photoionization cross section from the first excited (5P) level by observing the photoionization-induced loss rate of neutral atoms from the trap. This technique has the advantage that it directly measures the photoionization rate per atom. Knowing the ionizing laser intensity and the excited-state fraction, the measured loss rate gives the absolute cross section. Using this technique, the Rb 5P photoionization cross section at {approximately}400 nm has been determined with an uncertainty of 9%. The authors are currently attempting to extend this method to the 5D level. Using time-ordered pulses of diode-laser light (similar to the STIRAP technique), they have performed very efficient two-photon excitation of trapped Rb atoms to 5D. Finally, they will present results from a recent collaboration which combines measurements form conventional molecular spectroscopy (single photon and double resonance) with photoassociation collisions of ultracold Na atoms to yield a precise ({le}1 ppm) value for the dissociation energy of the X {Sigma}{sub g}{sub +} ground state of the Na{sub 2} molecule.
We report an experiment on recoil-ion momentum spectroscopy of Rb+{\mathrm{Rb}}^{+}Rb+ ions formed by two-photon ionization of Rb2P3/2{\mathrm{Rb}}^{2}{P}_{3/2}Rb2P3/2​ at 790 nm. Laser-cooled atoms in a magneto-optic trap are used as the target in time-of-flight analysis of the recoil momentum. We demonstrate a resolution of 1 \ensuremath{\mu}eV with a limiting momentum resolution below $\ensuremath{\delta}p=0.05$ a.u. We also show the use of the photoionization technique for the characterization of cold atomic samples.
A series of experiments is performed on cold 85Rb atoms confined in a magneto-optical trap. A variation of Stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP) is used to transfer population from the 5S 1/2 ground state to the 5D5/2 state with an efficiency exceeding 80%. This process relies on moderately intense pulses arriving in the counterintuitive order, i.e., the upper transition (5P → 5D) driven before the lower transition (5S → 5P ). There is reasonable agreement with computer simulations, excepting a marked discrepancy between measured intensities and those used in the simulations. With a large ensemble of 5D atoms available, the 5D photoionization cross section at four different laser wavelengths (1064, 788, 647 and 532 nm) is determined via trap loss measurements. The theoretical calculations agree well with the experimental results (17.7, 10.9, 7.6 and 5.2 Mb, respectively). An experiment to measure the 5S-5D collisional rate constant sets an order-of-magnitude upper bound of 10−10 cm3/s, assuming all atoms are 5S-5D pairs. ^
The interaction of light with atoms and molecules is of fundamental interest in many branches of science. In atomic physics, this interaction can be used to cool and spatially confine (trap) atoms. These traps can be used as the starting point for other experiments, but the dynamics of the cooling and trapping processes is itself of interest. In order to better understand the physics of trapping atoms in an optical dipole force trap, we have conducted a series of spectroscopic measurements of ultracold rubidium atoms in such a trap. The trap was created at the focus of a Nd:YAG laser beam with wavelength 1064nm and nearly Gaussian spatial mode. For rubidium, the trap light is red-detuned and the atoms are confined to the highest intensity in the beam. In order to probe the atoms confined in the trap, we have performed spectroscopy on the 5S1/2 → 5P3/2 transition. Because the polarizability of the ground and excited states is not the same at the trap wavelength, the spectra exhibit both a shift and inhomogeneous broadening. We have investigated the spectra for both linear and circular polarized traps. We also studied the application of a second laser to couple the excited state (5P3/2) to another higher excited state (5D5/2) to reduce the inhomogeneous broadening of the 5S1/2 → 5P 3/2 transition. Finally, two-photon spectroscopy was performed on atoms in the dipole force trap and compared to spectra taken in a magneto optical trap (MOT). Autler-Townes splitting was clearly observed in the MOT and appears to have been observed in the dipole force trap also.