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Optics Letters

Influence of second-order Doppler effect on optical Ramsey fringe profiles

R. L. Barger

Published Mar 1, 1981• 62 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Resolution sufficient to resolve second-order Doppler broadening (3.9 kHz) has been obtained for the Ca (1)S(0)-(3)P(1) transition (657 nm) by using an atomic beam and optical Ramsey fringe techniques. Laser-beam separations up to 21 cm yield Ca linewidths (HWHM) as narrow as 1 kHz. As resolution is increased to approach, then exceed the second-order linewidth, large asymmetries, shifts, and shape changes occur in the Ramsey fringe profile.

DOI
10.1364/ol.6.000145

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Resolution sufficient to resolve second-order Doppler broadening (3.9 kHz) has been obtained for the Ca (1)S(0)-(3)P(1) transition (657 nm) by using an atomic beam and optical Ramsey fringe techniques. Laser-beam separations up to 21 cm yield Ca linewidths (HWHM) as narrow as 1 kHz. As resolution is increased to approach, then exceed the second-order linewidth, large asymmetries, shifts, and shape changes occur in the Ramsey fringe profile.
Evidence of coherence effects has been observed in the Zeeman sublevels by means of nonlinear level crossing in a metastable Ca beam with resonance width 3 orders of magnitude less than the radiative linewidth of the investigated transitions. By using two separate traveling waves, Ramsey-like fringes have been observed. The final measured widths are determined by the transit time, are weakly dependent on the magnetic-field inhomogeneities, and are independent of the natural width of the optical transitions and the laser bandwidth.
Abstract : The goal of our work has been to investigate a few well-chosen effects in laser spectroscopy under clean experimental conditions which facilitate a sharp and meaningful contact with theory. The initially-defined task was to study large pulse-area effects in single upward transitions from metastable atoms in a fast, monovelocity Ne* beam. It proved possible as well to investigate multiple-pulse transitions on a cw basis. Ramsey fringe resonance signatures were clearly observed and for the first time in the optical domain, using three pulse excitation. Basically the first two zones of light provide initially a coherence and secondly an atomic population in the excited state. The counter-running fields in the second zone and third zones convert excited state population into a coherence again and finally into a nonlinear (with intensity) change in the excited and ground state populations. In view of the time gap tau in the preparation phase, one could anticipate and did observe narrow Ramsey fringes which vary as cos (delta, omega, tau) in the middle of the single zone excitation linewidth function ( Rabbi pedestal ). The neon beam employed was rather fast (v/c approx. .001) and, being produced by charge transfer had an exceptionally an narrow velocity distribution, delta, approx .0001. These characteristics permitted unambiguous measurements of the fringe shapes and facilitated useful contact with theory. A second extremely successful experiment was the combination of laser excitation of two-photon Doppler-free transitions in the 5S yields nS series in Rubidium with precise Lambdameter interferometer techniques to accurately measure the transition wavelength.
Based on a new detection scheme, optical Ramsey fringes with a resolution of 4 kHz on the Mg 1S0‐3P1 intercombination line (λ=457 nm) have been detected using laser cooled and trapped atoms. Due to a pulsed excitation sequence, the signals are free from phase errors caused by the interacting laser fields and by the relativistic Doppler effect, resulting in an accuracy better than Δν/ν≊10−15. The influence of the electron shelving in the metastable 3P1 level on the trap dynamics is monitored on the fast and closed 1S0‐1P1 cooling transition (λ=285 nm). Simultaneously recorded Ramsey fringes on a thermal atomic beam allow a direct measurement of the second order Doppler shift.
Well-resolved Ramsey fringes have been demonstrated using laser Stark spectroscopy of CH3{\mathrm{CH}}_{3}CH3​F in a molecular beam with two interaction regions. Fringe separations as low as 155 kHz were obtained. The interaction regions were produced by masks containing slits placed in the Gaussian-profile beam of a cw CO2{\mathrm{CO}}_{2}CO2​ laser. Population inversion resulting from a frequency sweep associated with the curvature of the slit-diffracted wave fronts has limited the observations at high laser-power values. An imaging system has been shown to eliminate this effect. Experiments with three and five laser-molecular beam crossings were also conducted to demonstrate the feasibility of using multiple interaction regions as a tool for high-resolution spectroscopy. The results have been modeled using the optical Bloch equation for a two-level system. Good agreement with the experiment has been obtained.