We present a new characterisation technique for atomic vapor cells, combining time-domain measurements with absorption imaging to obtain spatially resolved information on decay times, atomic diffusion and coherent dynamics. The technique is used to characterise a microfabricated Rb vapor cell, with N2buffer gas, placed inside a microwave cavity. High-resolution images of the population (T1) and coherence (T2) lifetimes in the cell are presented. Atom-wall collisions and atomic diffusion result in a `skin' of reduced T1and T2times around the edge of the cell. The technique also allows polarisation-resolved imaging of the microwave magnetic field inside the cell. Our technique is useful for vapor cell characterisation in atomic clocks, atomic sensors, and quantum information experiments.
We present a characterization technique for atomic vapor cells, combining time-domain measurements with absorption imaging to obtain spatially resolved information on decay times, atomic diffusion, and coherent dynamics. The technique is used to characterize a 5-mm-diameter, 2-mm-thick microfabricated Rb vapor cell, with N
2 buffer gas, placed inside a microwave cavity. Time-domain Franzen and Ramsey measurements are used to produce high-resolution images of the population (
T1) and coherence (
T2) lifetimes in the cell, while Rabi measurements yield images of the ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{\ensuremath{-}}$, $\ensuremath{\pi}$, and ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{+}$ components of the applied microwave magnetic field. For a cell temperature of $90{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{\ensuremath{\circ}}$C, the
T1 times across the cell center are found to be a roughly uniform $265\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\mu}$s, while the
T2 times peak at around $350\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\mu}$s. We observe a ``skin'' of reduced
T1 and
T2 times around the edge of the cell due to the depolarization of Rb after collisions with the silicon cell walls. Our observations suggest that these collisions are far from being 100
depolarizing, consistent with earlier observations made with Na and glass walls. Images of the microwave magnetic field reveal regions of optimal field homogeneity, and thus coherence. Our technique is useful for vapor cell characterization in atomic clocks, atomic sensors, and quantum information experiments.
In this thesis, I report on the development of imaging techniques in atomic vapor cells. This is a relatively unexplored area, despite the ubiquitous use of imaging in experiments with ultracold atoms. Our main focus is in high resolution imaging of microwave near fields, for which there is currently no satisfactory established technique. We detect microwave fields through Rabi oscillations driven by the microwave on atomic hyperfine transitions. The technique can be easily modified to also image dc magnetic fields. In addition, we have developed techniques to image vapor cell processes such as atomic T1 and T2 relaxation. These provide a new window into vapor cell physics, which we have used to obtain spatially resolved information on Rb interactions with the cell walls, and to estimate the Rb relaxation probability in a collision with the cell wall. \n \nAs a first application of our imaging techniques, we imaged the dc and microwave magnetic fields inside a state-of-the-art vapor cell atomic clock. This new clock characterisation technique should lead to real improvements in clock performance, and is in the process of being adopted by the atomic clock community. \n \nWe have developed a widefield, high resolution imaging setup using a microfabricated vapor cell, which we have used to image microwave and dc magnetic vector fields. With the addition of a 480 nm laser, the setup can be configured to image microwave electric fields. Our camera-based imaging system records 2D images with a 6x6 mm2 field of view at a rate of 10 Hz. It provides up to 50 um spatial resolution, and allows imaging of fields as close as 150 um above structures, through the use of extremely thin external cell walls. This is crucial in allowing us to take practical advantage of the high spatial resolution, as feature sizes in near-fields are on the order of the distance from their source, and represents an order of magnitude improvement in surface-feature resolution compared to previous vapor cell experiments. We demonstrate a microwave magnetic field sensitivity of 1.4 uT/sqrt-Hz per 50x50x140 um3 voxel, at present limited by the speed of our imaging system. Since we image 120x120 voxels in parallel, a single scanned sensor would require a sensitivity of at least 12 nT/sqrt-Hz to produce images with the same sensitivity. \n \nThe spatial resolution, distance of approach, and sensitivity of our high resolution setup are sufficient for characterising 6.8 GHz microwave fields above a range of real world devices. However, frequency tunability is essential for wider applications of our imaging technique. Industry is particularly interested in techniques for imaging high frequency microwaves, above 18 GHz, where simulations become increasingly unreliable. I have shown that our technique can be extended to image microwaves of any frequency, in principle from dc to 100s of GHz, by using a large dc magnetic field to Zeeman shift the hyperfine ground state transitions to the desired frequency. I present results from a proof-of-principle setup, where we have used a 0.8 T solenoid to detect and image microwaves from 2.3 GHz to 26.4 GHz. \n
We report on the experimental measurement of the dc and microwave magnetic field distributions inside a recently developed compact magnetron-type microwave cavity mounted inside the physics package of a high-performance vapor-cell atomic frequency standard. Images of the microwave field distribution with sub-100-μm lateral spatial resolution are obtained by pulsed optical-microwave Rabi measurements, using the Rb atoms inside the cell as field probes and detecting with a CCD camera. Asymmetries observed in the microwave field images can be attributed to the precise practical realization of the cavity and the Rb vapor cell. Similar spatially resolved images of the dc magnetic field distribution are obtained by Ramsey-type measurements. The T2relaxation time in the Rb vapor cell is found to be position dependent and correlates with the gradient of the dc magnetic field. The presented method is highly useful for experimental in situ characterization of dc magnetic fields and resonant microwave structures, for atomic clocks or other atom-based sensors and instrumentation.
We demonstrate a simple technique for microwave field imaging using alkali atoms in a vapor cell. The microwave field to be measured drives Rabi oscillations on atomic hyperfine transitions, which are detected in a spatially resolved way using a laser beam and a camera. Our vapor cell geometry enables single-shot recording of two-dimensional microwave field images with 350 μm spatial resolution. Using microfabricated vapor cell arrays, a resolution of a few micrometers seems feasible. All vector components of the microwave magnetic field can be imaged. Our apparatus is simple and compact and does not require cryogenics or ultra-high vacuum.
We apply an innovative method called Optically-Detected Spin-Echo to measure the intrinsic coherence relaxation time in the buffer-gas vapor cell of a Rb atomic clock [1]. This method suppresses the influence of static-magnetic-field-gradients across the cell which is a source of relaxation processes. Such studies are of interest for high-performance Rb atomic clocks, where both intrinsic population and coherence relaxation times (T1and T2, respectively) of the “clock transition” (52S1/2|Fg= 1, mF= 0〉 ↔ |Fg= 2, mF= 0〉) are relevant.
We use a Ramsey-type interaction scheme to measure spatially-resolved images of the static magnetic field (C-field) amplitude Bdcapplied across the Rb cell in the physics package of a high-performance vapor-cell atomic clock. Low field variations ofdcalso along the direction of laser propagation. Images of the T2relaxation time are obtained in a similar way, and show a distribution that correlates with the Bdcdistribution. This indicates inhomogeneous dephasing due to C-field gradients, which also results in spatial variation of the T2time for the clock transition.