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Measurement Science and Technology

Accurate measurement of the fluorescence collection efficiency in a light-atom interaction experiment

P. Cérez, V. Giordano, N. Dimarcq, A. Hamel, G. Théobald

Published Oct 1, 1990• 5 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The authors report an accurate method of measurement of the fluorescence collection efficiency in a resonant light-atom interaction experiment. The measurement consists in a precise comparison of the absorption and fluorescence signals. Using this technique, optimisation of the optical collecting set-up can be made as well as signal-to-noise predictions in the optical detection of atoms. It allows one to study fine physical effects such as anisotropy of the fluorescent light.

DOI
10.1088/0957-0233/1/10/020

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The authors report an accurate method of measurement of the fluorescence collection efficiency in a resonant light-atom interaction experiment. The measurement consists in a precise comparison of the absorption and fluorescence signals. Using this technique, optimisation of the optical collecting set-up can be made as well as signal-to-noise predictions in the optical detection of atoms. It allows one to study fine physical effects such as anisotropy of the fluorescent light.
Fluorescence collector is a critical component in optically pumped Cs beam frequency standards. We design a new fluorescence collector by means of a new method. By means of two simulation methods, a smaller fluorescence collector with the same collection efficiency is achieved. It can be applied to almost all fluorescence detection systems in atom-light interaction experiments. We select the practical fluorescence collector studied by comparing three designing schemes. Its structure is very plain. Moreover, its fluorescence collection efficiency is very high. The collection efficiency of the practical fluorescence collector we designed is over 33% by means of two different ways.
Resonant frequency modulation spectroscopy has been previously used as a highly sensitive method for measuring the output of cold atom interferometers. Using a detailed model that accounts for optical saturation, laser intensities and atomic densities that vary spatially, and radiation pressure on the atoms, we theoretically investigate under what parameter regimes the optimum signal-to-noise ratio is found under experimentally realistic conditions. We compare this technique to the standard method of fluorescence imaging and find that it outperforms fluorescence imaging for compact interferometers using condensed atomic sources or where the photon collection efficiency is limited. However, we find that fluorescence imaging is likely to be the preferred method when using squeezed atomic sources due to limited atom number.
Many cold atom experiments rely on precise atom number detection, especially in the context of quantum-enhanced metrology where effects at the single particle level are important. Here, we investigate the limits of atom number counting via resonant fluorescence detection for mesoscopic samples of trapped atoms. We characterize the precision of these fluorescence measurements beginning from the single-atom level up to more than one thousand. By investigating the primary noise sources, we obtain single-atom resolution for atom numbers as high as 1200. This capability is an essential prerequisite for future experiments with highly entangled states of mesoscopic atomic ensembles.
The problem of the fluorescence anisotropy resulting from alignment in the excited state is investigated in the case of a cesium beam illuminated by a broadband laser diode tuned to the cesium D2 line. Its effect on the collection efficiency is derived when photon fluorescence collection is performed inside a small solid angle about the quantization axis. Excitation schemes leading to a noticeable increase of the fluorescence yield are pointed out and experimental results agree quite well with the predictions.
The ability to detect single photons with a high efficiency is a crucial requirement for various quantum information applications. By combining the storage process of a quantum memory for photons with fluorescence-based quantum state measurement, it is, in principle, possible to achieve high-efficiency photon counting in large ensembles of atoms. The large number of atoms can, however, pose significant problems in terms of noise stemming from imperfect initial state preparation and off-resonant fluorescence. We identify and analyse a concrete implementation of a photon number resolving detector based on an ion Coulomb crystal inside a moderately high-finesse optical cavity. The cavity enhancement leads to an effective optical depth of 15 for a finesse of 3000 with only about 1500 ions interacting with the light field. We show that these values allow for essentially noiseless detection with an efficiency larger than 93%. Moderate experimental parameters allow for repetition rates of about 3 kHz, limited by the time needed for fluorescence collection and re-cooling of the ions between trials. Our analysis may lead to the first implementation of a photon number resolving detector in atomic ensembles.
The detection of optical resonances by observation of the fluorescence light emitted from a fast atomic beam of Na interacting with a collinear laser beam is limited in sensitivity by optical pumping processes. In the experiment reported here, we take advantage of the optical pumping by using a second collinear laser beam, achieving then a gain in fluorescence signal. The effects of the lasers power and polarization on line shapes have been studied in the single laser excitation case as well as in the two laser beams one.