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Journal of Physics B Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics

Angular momentum in spontaneous emission

Sonja Franke‐Arnold, Stephen Mark Barnett

Published May 28, 1996• 13 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The contributions of the atomic and field angular momentum in a non-relativistic dipole transition are calculated. For a spontaneous emission process the full quantum description is reconciled with the conventional view of angular momentum transfer of .
DOI
10.1088/0953-4075/29/10/022

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This monograph is devoted to the description and interpretation of interference between quantum states of an atom, as manifested in the angular distribution and polarization of spontaneous emission and absorption. The basic phenomena are first introduced and explained in terms of the simple classical dipole model. A more quantitative description follows, making use of the density matrix formalism and the statistical tensor. The theoretical sections are complemented by detailed accounts of experimental methods and results, such that the monograph as a whole gives a comprehensive picture of this field.
We review and compare recent experiments and theoretical models demonstrating complete population transfer to selected states in atoms and molecules using (1) Stimulated Raman Adiabatic Rapid Passage (STIRAP) with temporally delayed but partially overlapping time dependent fundamental and Stokes fields and (2) Chirped Adiabatic Passage (CHIRAP) using frequency chirped field with the frequency swept through the resonance frequency of transitions. The transfer efficiency in these processes is unity when the adiabatic criteria are satisfied. Alignment and orientation of the initial and terminals levels of the transitions can be obtained using these methods. The dynamics involve the atomic or molecular internal angular momentum states because the Rabi frequencies for the transitions depend on the magnetic quantum numbers of the states. Full wavefunction and density matrix (necessary when spontaneous emission of the excited states plays a role) calculations are presented and adiabatic-following wavefunction and density matrix descriptions are advanced to explain unexpected experimental results.
We propose methods of optical pumping that are applicable to open, high-angular-momentum transitions in atoms and molecules, for which conventional optical pumping would lead to significant population loss. Instead of applying circularly polarized cw light, as in conventional optical pumping, we propose to use techniques for coherent population transfer (e.g., adiabatic fast passage) to arrange the atoms so as to increase the entropy removed from the system with each spontaneous decay from the upper state. This minimizes the number of spontaneous-emission events required to produce a stretched state, thus reducing the population loss due to decay to other states. To produce a stretched state in a manifold with angular momentum JJJ, conventional optical pumping requires about 2J2J2J spontaneous decays per atom; one of our proposed methods reduces this to about log22J{log}_{2}2Jlog2​2J, while another of the methods reduces it to about one spontaneous decay, independent of JJJ.