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Physical Review A

Observation of Stark–induced-dipole-quadrupole interference in atomic barium

Stephan Wielandy, T.-H. Sun, Robert C. Hilborn, L. R. Hunter

Published Dec 1, 1992• 5 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Quantum interference between an electric-quadrupole transition and a Stark--induced-dipole-transition amplitude leads to a net orientation of an atomic excited state. When the barium 6${\mathit{s}}^{2}$ 1S-6s5d $^{1}$D transition is excited in the presence of an electric field, we find the induced orientation of the 6s5d $^{1}$D state to be (2.86\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.59)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}6}$(V/cm${)}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1}$.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.46.7103

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Quantum interference between an electric-quadrupole transition and a Stark--induced-dipole-transition amplitude leads to a net orientation of an atomic excited state. When the barium 6s2{\mathit{s}}^{2}s2 1S-6s5d 1^{1}1D transition is excited in the presence of an electric field, we find the induced orientation of the 6s5d 1^{1}1D state to be (2.86\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.59)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}10\ensuremath−6{10}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}6}10\ensuremath−6(V/cm)\ensuremath−1{)}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1})\ensuremath−1.
We have measured the magnetic dipole (M1) and electric quadrupole (E2) amplitudes in the D1 transition of rubidium atoms placed in a static electric field, ${\mathit{scrE}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}_{\mathit{s}}$. The interference of the Stark induced M1 and E2 amplitudes with the normal E1 amplitude gives the atomic absorptivity a linear dependence on ${\mathit{scrE}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}_{\mathit{s}}$ and on the atomic spin polarization. We find that the fractional change in absorptivity due to the Stark interference is aM1{\mathit{a}}_{\mathit{M}1}aM1​+aE2{\mathit{a}}_{\mathit{E}2}aE2​=(-2.37\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.37\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.28)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}8}$ (kV/cm${)}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1}$.
An interference between electric quadrupole and Stark induced dipole amplitudes is observed for the first time. Measurement of this interference in atomic strontium permits the first experimental determination of the decay rate between the lowest 1P^{1}\mathrm{P}1P and metastable 1D^{1}\mathrm{D}1D levels in an alkaline-earth atom. We obtain the result A(5s5p-5s4d)=(3.85\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.94\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.5 3)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}103{10}^{3}103 ${\mathrm{s}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1}$.
The 877.5-nm electric-field-induced quench radiation on a thermal beam of Ba atoms in the metastable 6s5d 1^{1}1D2{\mathit{D}}_{2}D2​ state for transition to the 5s2{\mathit{s}}^{2}s2 1^{1}1S0{\mathit{S}}_{0}S0​ ground state has been measured at the 3% precision level. The Stark-enhanced dipole radiation yields a simple relationship between the field-free-decay rates for transitions between the metastable 1^{1}1D2{\mathit{D}}_{2}D2​ state and the nearby states that are mixed in by the field. Using the known decay rates, we obtain a decay rate of A(6s6p 3^{3}3P1{\mathit{P}}_{1}P1​--6s5d 1^{1}1D2{\mathit{D}}_{2}D2​)\ensuremath{\sim}7\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}103{10}^{3}103 ${\mathrm{s}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1}$.
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We report here the first observation and measurement of the transition magnetic moment for a strongly forbidden S-S transition of an alkali atom. By using single-photon excitation of the 6S1/2-7S1/2 caesium transition in a quasi-static electric field, we have detected an electronic polarization of the excited state, specific to an interference effect occurring in mixed electric magnetic dipole transitions. Our measurements, independent of the vapour density, indicate that the magnetic dipole amplitude M 1 has the same size as the electric dipole amplitude E1 , induced by an electric field, parallel to the light wave polarization, and equal to 2.62 ± 0.21 V/cm. We also obtain the relative sign of M 1 and E1. Using a theoretical value of E 1 and a well-defined phase convention, we deduce for the magnetic moment of the transition < 7S, 1/ 2 | μ z | 6S, 1/ 2 > = - (4.24 ± 0.34) 10-5 |μB|, in good agreement with a theoretical estimate. This result can also be expressed in terms of the oscillator strength in zero electric field f6S-7S = 4.05 × 10-15, or of the single-photon M1 decay rate Γ 7S-6S = 0.93 x 10-6 s-1.
We have observed alignment-to-orientation conversion in the (5d6p)(5d6p)(5d6p) 1P{}^{1}P1P state of atomic barium due to the combined effects of a static Zeeman shift and a dynamic Stark shift associated with the electric field of a pulsed laser beam. The measurements yield a value for the frequency-dependent tensor polarizability of the state in reasonable agreement with a simple perturbation theory calculation. With a tunable laser producing the dynamic Stark shift, we can both enhance the magnitude of the effect by tuning close to a resonance and reverse the sign of the orientation by tuning above or below the resonance. This method of producing an oriented atomic state is quite general, and with easily available field strengths can produce large orientations.