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Soviet Physics Uspekhi

Laser detection of single atoms

V. I. Balykin, G. I. Bekov, Vladilen S Letokhov, Vyacheslav I. Mishin

Published Oct 31, 1980• 50 citations
Publisher

Abstract

This review deals with the problem of selective detection of single atoms by laser radiaton. It begins with a classification of the detection methods (fluorescence, photoionization, deflection), discusses detection conditions (atomic vapor, atomic beam, buffer gas), and gives estimates of the parameters of laser radiation ensuring effective detection. Next, a detailed comparision is made of each of the detection methods. It is shown that in the fluorescence method the maximum efficiency of the detection process is achieved for cyclic interaction of atoms with laser radiation. In the photoionization method the most suitable technique is multistage photoionization of atoms by laser radiation. The highest ionization selectivity and a high efficiency are obtained by multistage excitation of an atom either to a Rydberg state followed by ionization with an electric field pulse or to a narrow autoionizing state with a large excitation cross section. Both these techniques are considered from the point of view of the sources of background and ways of discriminating against it, detection selectivity, and absolute sensitivity; the experimental results are analyzed. In discussing the deflection method consideration is given to deflection of an atom in a magnetic field after excitation with laser radiation and to deflection of atoms by resonant optical pressure. The review concludes with a brief discussion of the prospective applications of these detection methods in nuclear physics, atomic physics, and chemistry.

DOI
10.1070/pu1980v023n10abeh005037

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This review deals with the problem of selective detection of single atoms by laser radiaton. It begins with a classification of the detection methods (fluorescence, photoionization, deflection), discusses detection conditions (atomic vapor, atomic beam, buffer gas), and gives estimates of the parameters of laser radiation ensuring effective detection. Next, a detailed comparision is made of each of the detection methods. It is shown that in the fluorescence method the maximum efficiency of the detection process is achieved for cyclic interaction of atoms with laser radiation. In the photoionization method the most suitable technique is multistage photoionization of atoms by laser radiation. The highest ionization selectivity and a high efficiency are obtained by multistage excitation of an atom either to a Rydberg state followed by ionization with an electric field pulse or to a narrow autoionizing state with a large excitation cross section. Both these techniques are considered from the point of view of the sources of background and ways of discriminating against it, detection selectivity, and absolute sensitivity; the experimental results are analyzed. In discussing the deflection method consideration is given to deflection of an atom in a magnetic field after excitation with laser radiation and to deflection of atoms by resonant optical pressure. The review concludes with a brief discussion of the prospective applications of these detection methods in nuclear physics, atomic physics, and chemistry.
Resonance ionization spectroscopy, RIS, is a multistep photon absorption process in which the final state is the ionization continuum of an atom. The RIS process can be saturated with available pulsed lasers, so that one electron can be removed from each atom of the selected type. This method was first applied to the determination of the absolute number of He(21S2^{1}S21S) excited states produced when pulsed beams of protons interacted with helium gas. Laser schemes for RIS are classified into five basic types; with these, nearly all of the elements can be detected with commercially available lasers. A periodic table is included showing schemes applicable to all of the elements except He, Ne, F, and Ar. A compact theory of the RIS process is presented which delineates the conditions under which rate equations apply. Questions on the effects of collisional line broadening, laser coherence time, and nonresonant multiphoton ionization processes are discussed. The initial demonstration of one-atom detection of Cs is described. By using laser beams to saturate the RIS process and by using proportional counters as single-electron detectors, one-atom detection is made possible. With RIS, one-atom detection is highly selective, has the ultimate in sensitivity, and has excellent space and time resolution. Furthermore, a modification of the technique in which single electrons (or single ions) are detected with a channel electron multiplier permits single-atom detection in a vacuum. Resonance ionization spectroscopy has application to classical phenomena such as the diffusion of free atoms, the chemical reaction of free atoms with a gas, the measurement of concentration fluctuations in a dilute vapor, and a variety of other atomic fluctuation phenomena. The authors describe how RIS can be used for photophysics measurements such as far wing collisional line broadening, measurements of photoionization cross sections for excited states, and collisional redistribution among excited states. Modern applications include the detection of single atoms in individual ionization tracks, such as those created by the binary fission of a parent atom, and the extension of this technique to the detection of stable or unstable daughter atoms in time coincidence with the decay of a parent atom. These methods are beig developed for use in low-level counting to determine, for example, the flux of solar neutrinos on the earth.
A theoretical analysis is made of the method of selective ionization of atoms based on selective resonance excitation by laser radiation to quantum states near the ionization threshold and subsequent autoionization decay of the excited states under the influence of an external electric field. The autoionization of atoms in static and pulsed electric fields is considered. Calculation formulas are obtained for the probability of autoionization of a hydrogenlike atom and corrections are computed for the influence of the electron shells. Numerical estimates are obtained for the autoionization of the n = 7–12 states of the Rb atom in an electric field.
The review describes and interprets the basic phenomena recently observed in the interaction between free atoms and laser radiation. Some of these have been known for a long time in magnetic resonance but in the optical range, the situation is strongly modified because of spontaneous emission and the Doppler effect. Therefore, particular attention is paid to resonance fluorescence and Doppler-free spectroscopy but without dwelling on applications. Transient effects are also discussed, but all the phenomena which characterize, not specifically the interaction between atoms and fields, but the free evolution of atoms after coherent excitation are ignored. Pulse propagation experiments are described in detail and multiphoton processes are considered, with special emphasis on Doppler-free multiphoton excitation and resonant multiphoton ionization.
In this contribution quantum-effects in the radiation-atom interaction will be reviewed. It is well known that most of the phenomena involving laser light can be described by semi-classical methods however phenomena such as laser noise the spectra and photon statistics of resonance fluorescence and the interaction of atoms in the single-atom maser require a quantization of the radiation field. In this paper we will describe results on the latter two effects. We will start with the discussion of resonance fluorescence. 1. RESONANCE FLUORESCENCE The resonant interaction of laser light with atomic systems has received considerable theoretical and experimental attention over the past decade. Until the advent of the laser light sources for spectroscopy consisted of ordinary spectral lamps excited by DC or RF discharges and produced light having a very broad spectral width and hence very short correlation time and a relatively low intensity. For such fields both the experimental and theoretical results are in general well understood. However the development of the laser made available light sources which are sufficiently intense that an atomic (or molecular) transition can be very easily saturated. In addition the lasers are highly monochromatic having a coherence time much greater than typical natural lifetimes of excited atomic states and finally tunable making it possible to selectively excite particular atomic transitions. The theoretical analysis of this physical situation requires the use of techniques more general than
The present state of research on the cooling of atomic ensembles by means of laser radiation pressure is discussed. First the basic theory of resonance radiation pressure is reviewed. The effect of recoil on the drift and fluctuations of the momentum of an atom interacting with resonance radiation is examined. There is an analysis of the forces acting on an atom in some simple light fields: a traveling plane wave, a Gaussian beam, and counterpropagating Gaussian beams. The review then focuses on the monochromatization of atoms by resonance radiation pressure and related methods for laser cooling of atoms. The roles played by the radiation pressure force and by momentum diffusion in shaping the narrow velocity distributions of the ensemble of atoms are analyzed. The lowest temperature obtainable in the radiation cooling of atoms is estimated. The basic experimental methods for laser cooling of atomic beams are described. Problems of the three-dimensional cooling of atomic ensembles and problems of localizing cold atoms in light fields, steady-state magnetic fields, and electrostatic fields are discussed. The review concludes with a discussion of some applications of cold atoms in high-precision spectroscopy, frequency standards, and atomic physics.