Nuclear-spin states of gaseous-state Cs atoms in the ground state are optically manipulated using a Ti:sapphire laser in a magnetic field of 1.516 T, in which optical coupling of the nuclear-spin states is achieved through hyperfine interactions between electrons and nuclei. The steady-state population distribution in the hyperfine Zeeman sublevels of the ground state is detected by using a tunable diode laser. Furthermore, the state population transfer among the hyperfine Zeeman sublevels, which results from the collision-induced modification δ a ( S · I ) of the hyperfine interaction of Cs in the ground state due to stochastic collisions between Cs atoms and buffer-gas molecules, is studied at different buffer-gas pressures. The experimental results show that high-field optical pumping and the small change δ a ( S · I ) of the hyperfine interaction can strongly cause the state population transfer and spin-state interchange among the hyperfine Zeeman sublevels. The calculated results maybe explain the steady-state population in hyperfine Zeeman sublevels in terms of rates of optical-pumping, electron-spin flip, nuclear spin flip, and electron-nuclear spin flip-flop transitions among the hyperfine Zeeman sublevels of the ground state of Cs atoms. This method may be applied to the nuclear-spin-based solid-state quantum computation.
Cs atoms were optically pumped with a Ti:sapphire laser in a magnetic field of 1.516 T. Steady absorption spectra and populations of Zeeman sublevels of the ground state of Cs in N 2 gas at various pressures (5, 40, and 80 Torr) were obtained. The results show that in a high magnetic field, the combined electron-nuclear spin transition (flip-flop transition), which is mainly induced by the collision modification δa ( J · I ) of hyperfine interaction, is an important relaxation mechanism at high buffer-gas pressures.
We report results of measurements and theoretical modeling of spontaneous spin polarization and associated hysteresis in an optically pumped Cs vapor. We observe hysteresis over the full range (20--450 torr) of
N2 buffer gas pressures tested, and on two hyperfine components of the
D1 transition, so long as both electronic spin exchange and optical pumping of a resolved ground state hyperfine level take place faster than spin relaxation. On the $F=\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{3}{F}_{e}=4$ transition, the spin angular momentum is gained from the linearly polarized pump light, while on the $\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{3}3$ transition, it comes instead from the buffer gas during collisional quenching. The density-matrix theoretical model we have developed includes the effects of coherence in the excited state. It reproduces all observed features of spontaneous polarization, including hysteresis curves in quantitative agreement with the data across a broad range of experimental parameters.
The hyperfine relaxation of a population difference, produced by optical pumping, between the
F=1 mF=0 and
F=2 mF=0 energy levels of the ground state of
Rb87, has been studied in cells containing neon, argon, helium, or krypton as a buffer gas. The relaxation times
T1 and
T2 have been measured as a function of the rubidium vapor pressure in the cell. The relaxation rate due to spin exchange in
Rb87-
Rb87 collisions has been found equal to 65 ${\mathrm{sec}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ at 44\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}C, and the diffusion coefficients of
Rb87 atoms in He, Ne, and Ar evaluated as 0.6, 0.31, and 0.22
cm2 ${\mathrm{sec}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$, respectively. The cross section for
Rb87-Ne and
Rb87-Ar collisions are found to be 1.6\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}22}$
cm2 and 9\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}22}$
cm2. These values are in general agreement with values previously obtained by other methods. The extrapolated values of
T21 for zero vapor pressure of rubidium are 185, 237, and 318 ${\mathrm{sec}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ for Ne, He, or Ar, respectively. Relaxations by the pumping light or by the magnetic field inhomogeneities are also discussed.
The relaxation of atomic polarization in buffer-gas-free, paraffin-coated cesium vapor cells is studied using a variation on Franzen's technique of ``relaxation in the dark'' [Franzen, Phys. Rev. 115 850 (1959)]. In the present experiment, narrow-band, circularly polarized pump light, resonant with the Cs D2 transition, orients atoms along a longitudinal magnetic field, and time-dependent optical rotation of linearly polarized probe light is measured to determine the relaxation rates of the atomic orientation of a particular hyperfine level. The change in relaxation rates during light-induced atomic desorption (LIAD) is studied. No significant change in the spin relaxation rate during LIAD is found beyond that expected from the faster rate of spin-exchange collisions due to the increase in Cs density.
We present detailed images of the Rb polarization in a high-pressure optical pumping cell. Images taken at high magnetic field strengths (≈37 G) yield precise information on the relative occupation probability of the hyperfine Zeeman sublevels. Low-field (⩽4 G) images yield very high resolution (less than 1 mm) maps of the spatial distribution of the Rb polarization. For optical pumping in the presence of high-pressure buffer gases, the measured populations of the hyperfine magnetic sublevels are shown to be well described by a spin temperature, even though the Rb–Rb spin exchange rate is much smaller than the rates of optical pumping or electron-randomizing Rb–Xe collisions in the buffer gas.