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Physical Review Letters

Slow Spin Relaxation of Rb Atoms Confined in Glass Cells Filled with Dense 4He Gas at 1.85 K

A. Hatakeyama, K. Oe, K. Ota, S. Hara, Junichi Arai, T. Yabuzaki, Albert R. Young

Published Feb 14, 2000• 28 citations
Publisher

Abstract

At temperatures below 2.1 K, long-lived gaseous Rb atoms in glass cells have been generated with a simple method: irradiating the cells, containing 4He gas and Rb metal, with a cw laser. The obtained atomic Rb density ( approximately 10(8) cm(-3)) decreases with a 1/e time constant of about 10 s at 1.85 K. We have performed optical pumping of the Rb atoms and measured the longitudinal electronic spin relaxation time at 1.85 K as well. For processes (such as Rb-He collisions) which do not remove the atomic Rb from the vapor, this relaxation time is found to be about 60+/-15 s.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.84.1407

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At temperatures below 2.1 K, long-lived gaseous Rb atoms in glass cells have been generated with a simple method: irradiating the cells, containing 4He gas and Rb metal, with a cw laser. The obtained atomic Rb density ( approximately 10(8) cm(-3)) decreases with a 1/e time constant of about 10 s at 1.85 K. We have performed optical pumping of the Rb atoms and measured the longitudinal electronic spin relaxation time at 1.85 K as well. For processes (such as Rb-He collisions) which do not remove the atomic Rb from the vapor, this relaxation time is found to be about 60+/-15 s.
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In the sealed-off cesium vapor cell studied in this work, a residual rubidium fraction of approximately $\sim1%wasobserved.WeinvestigatetheopticalresponseofthesetraceRbatomsinasealed1 cmlongCs−filledvaporcell.Despitethelowconcentration,laserexcitationat795 nmallowstheobservationofsaturatedabsorptionandelectromagneticallyinducedtransparency(EIT)resonances.ThesurroundingCsvaporeffectivelyactsasabuffermedium,reducingtheRbatomicvelocityandincreasingtheinteractiontimewiththelaserfield,whichimprovestheEITsignal.Theexperimentsareperformedinanall−sapphirecellthatcanbeheatedupto5001\% was observed. We investigate the optical response of these trace Rb atoms in a sealed 1~cm long Cs-filled vapor cell. Despite the low concentration, laser excitation at 795~nm allows the observation of saturated absorption and electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) resonances. The surrounding Cs vapor effectively acts as a buffer medium, reducing the Rb atomic velocity and increasing the interaction time with the laser field, which improves the EIT signal. The experiments are performed in an all-sapphire cell that can be heated up to 5001%wasobserved.WeinvestigatetheopticalresponseofthesetraceRbatomsinasealed1 cmlongCs−filledvaporcell.Despitethelowconcentration,laserexcitationat795 nmallowstheobservationofsaturatedabsorptionandelectromagneticallyinducedtransparency(EIT)resonances.ThesurroundingCsvaporeffectivelyactsasabuffermedium,reducingtheRbatomicvelocityandincreasingtheinteractiontimewiththelaserfield,whichimprovestheEITsignal.Theexperimentsareperformedinanall−sapphirecellthatcanbeheatedupto500^{\circ}$C without window blackening, unlike conventional glass cells. From the measured spectra, Cs--Rb collisional cross sections are estimated. These results show that residual atomic species in high-temperature vapor cells can be exploited for spectroscopic and nonlinear-optical studies.
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We present the first experimental observation of atomic spin randomization of Rb atoms released by light-induced atomic desorption (LIAD). A natural mixture of Rb atoms contained in paraffin and PDMS coated glass cells is irradiated by a free-running diode laser light tuned to the Rb D 2 resonance line. The transmission spectrum of the Rb vapor is thus modified and shows a strong enhancement of the hyperfine optical pumping as the light intensity is increased and the laser-frequency scanning rate is decreased. The D 2 line spectra are compared for two cases: without and with illumination of the walls of the cell by a UV lamp centered around the wavelength of 404 nm. A simple theoretical model based on the solution of the rate balance equations is introduced in order to analyze the experimental results.