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Physical Review A

Polarization spectroscopy of rubidium atoms: Theory and experiment

Huy Diep, Geol Moon, Heung‐Ryoul Noh

Published Mar 27, 2008• 63 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We present a theoretical and experimental study of polarization spectroscopy of rubidium atoms. All of the populations of the magnetic sublevels were calculated from the rate equations and used in the calculation of the polarization spectroscopy spectra. Using this model, we could generate theoretical line shapes of the polarization spectra on the ${D}_{2}$ transitions of rubidium atoms. The experimental results demonstrated that our model accurately reproduced spectra for all transitions in hyperfine structures.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.77.032513

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We present a theoretical and experimental study of polarization spectroscopy of rubidium atoms. All of the populations of the magnetic sublevels were calculated from the rate equations and used in the calculation of the polarization spectroscopy spectra. Using this model, we could generate theoretical line shapes of the polarization spectra on the D2{D}_{2}D2​ transitions of rubidium atoms. The experimental results demonstrated that our model accurately reproduced spectra for all transitions in hyperfine structures.
We develop a theoretical treatment of polarization spectroscopy and use it to make predictions about the general form of polarization spectra in the alkali-metal atoms. Using our model, we generate theoretical spectra for the D2D2D2 transitions in 87Rb^{87}\mathrm{Rb}87Rb, 85Rb^{85}\mathrm{Rb}85Rb, and 133Cs^{133}\mathrm{Cs}133Cs. Experiments demonstrate that the model accurately reproduces spectra of transitions from the upper hyperfine level of the ground state only. Among these, the closed transition $F\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{F}^{\ensuremath{'}}=F+1$ dominates, with a steep gradient through line center ideally suited for use as a reference in laser locking.
Abstract We present a theoretical and experimental study of the polarization rotation of a linearly polarized probe beam scanning across all of the neighboring hyperfine levels ( F e = 1 and 2) with a circularly polarized pumping beam resonant on the F g = 2 → F e = 3 transition of the D2 line of 87 Rb atoms. The experimental results match well with the results calculated from the full-level density matrix equations considering laser phase noise, which hinders observations of narrow lines with linewidths of ∼90 kHz, as calculated in polarization rotation spectra for the first time.
An ongoing spectroscopic investigation of atomic rubidium utilizes a two-photon, single-laser excitation process. Transitions accessible with our tunable laser include 5P1/2 (F ′ ) ← 5S1/2 (F) and 5P3/2 (F ′ ) ← 5S1/2 (F). The laser is split into a pump and probe beam to allow for Doppler-free measurements of transitions between hyperfine levels. The pump and probe beams are overlapped in a counter-propagating geometry and the laser frequency scans over a transition. Absorption, fluorescence and polarization spectroscopy techniques are applied to this basic experimental setup. The temperature of the vapor cell and the power of the pump and probe beams have been varied to explore line broadening effects and signal-to-noise of each technique. This humble setup will hopefully grow into a more robust experimental arrangement in which double resonance, two-laser excitations are used to explore hyperfine state changing collisions between rubidium atoms and noble gas atoms. Rb-noble gas collisions can transfer population between hyperfine levels, such as 5P3/2 (F ′ = 3) Collision ←− 5P3/2 (F ′ = 2), and the probe beam couples 7S1/2 (F ′′ = 2) ← 5P3/2 (F ′ = 3). Polarization spectroscopy signal depends on the rate of population transfer due to the collision as well as maintaining the orientation created by the pump laser. Fluorescence spectroscopy relies only on transfer of population due to the collision. Comparison of these techniques yields information regarding the change of the magnetic sublevels, mF , during hyperfine state changing collisions.
In this paper, we describe two complementary nonlinear spectroscopy methods which both allow one to achieve Doppler-free spectra of atomic gases. First, saturated absorption spectroscopy is used to investigate the structure of the 5S 1/2 → 5P 3/2 transition in rubidium. Using a slightly modified experimental setup, Doppler-free two-photon absorption spectroscopy is then performed on the 5S 1/2 → 5D 5/2 transition in rubidium, leading to accurate measurements of the hyperfine structure of the 5D 5/2 energy level. In addition, electric dipole selection rules of the two-photon transition are investigated, first by modifying the polarization of the excitation laser, and then by measuring two-photon absorption spectra when a magnetic field is applied close to the rubidium vapour. All experiments are performed with the same grating-feedback laser diode, providing an opportunity to compare different high-resolution spectroscopy methods using a single experimental setup. Such experiments may acquaint students with quantum mechanics selection rules, atomic spectra and Zeeman effect.
We realize the linear polarization spectroscopy on the D2 transitions of rubidium atoms and investigate the underlying physics with an analytical theory using the Nakayama model. We demonstrate that the strong birefringence in the rubidium atomic gas is induced by the π light optical pumping, which is distinguished from the conventional PS using circularly polarized light. The theory agrees with the experiment reasonably well, except for the upper hyperfine closed transitions where the saturation plays nontrivial roles. The effects of the misalignment of the polarization optics and the miscalibration of the pump intensity are also discussed.
We present an experimental and theoretical study of self-rotation of optical polarization in a rubidium vapor.The atomic vapor is placed in a magnetic shielding cavity to suppress the Faraday rotation effect.In our experiment, Doppler-free spectroscopy configuration is used, and F = 2 → F = 3 transition of 87 Rb D2 line is chosen.We observe self-rotation of optical polarization effect at different pump light ellipticities.A theoretical analysis is then provided based on the experimental conditions.Theoretical simulation and experimental results are in good agreement.