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Proceedings of the Physical Society

Study of resonance fluorescence in cadmium: Modulation effects and lifetime measurements

John N. Dodd, Weston J. Sandle, Dimitry Zissermann

Published Oct 1, 1967• 52 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The decay of fluorescence following a brief pulse of optical excitation has been studied for the triplet resonance line in cadmium. The coherence existing between the m = ±1 Zeeman sublevels, as shown by the modulation of the fluorescence, was observed. The techniques used show the possibility of separate determination of lifetimes associated with the relaxation of coherence and with the decay of population.

DOI
10.1088/0370-1328/92/2/327

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A type of double resonance experiment is reported in which resonance fluorescence from an atomic vapour is excited by modulated light. The amplitude of modulation of the fluorescent light undergoes changes which indicate an atomic resonance when the frequency of modulation is equal to the Larmor frequency of the atoms in an applied magnetic field, or equal to twice that frequency. The effects have been studied in the intercombination line, λ 3261 A, of cadmium. They are in good agreement with theoretical predictions. The method could be applied to the spectroscopy of excited atoms.

Proceedings of the Physical Society•Feb 1, 1964•41 citations
The decay of fluorescence following a brief pulse of optical excitation has been studied for the triplet resonance line in cadmium. The coherence existing between the m = ±1 Zeeman sublevels, as shown by the modulation of the fluorescence, was observed. The techniques used show the possibility of separate determination of lifetimes associated with the relaxation of coherence and with the decay of population.
Further experiments are reported in which resonance fluorescence of an atomic vapour is excited by modulated light. The system studied was the 3 P 1 level of cadmium excited by the λ 3261 λ intercombination line modulated at 462 kHz. Resonant changes in the amplitude of modulation of the fluorescent light have been observed in both static and time-dependent magnetic fields whenever the modulation frequency matches a frequency separation between the states of the excited atoms. Quantitative investigations of the shape and position of the observed resonances show good agreement between theory and experiment. The application of the technique to the spectroscopy of excited atoms is considered.
Following (i) a sharp step or (ii) a pulse of applied magnetic field, the resonance fluorescence of an atomic vapour exposed to steady linearly polarized resonance radiation undergoes transient behaviour until a new steady state is reached; the form of the transient will be (i) modulation of the intensity with an exponential envelope, or (ii) simple exponential decay. From the modulation period the gJ value of the excited state is obtained. From the exponential decay the lifetime for the relaxation of atomic alignment is obtained directly. The technique, applied to the 63P1 state of mercury, gives 117.4+or-1.0 ns for the natural mean life.
We have measured the atomic lifetime of the argon 2 p 4 level by the laser-induced-fluorescence spectroscopy to be 30.5 ns. This contradicts the recent measurement using the high-frequency plused electron-beam excitation. We conjecture that, in their experiment, the radiation trapping not only affects the decay of the upper-level population but also relaxes the alignment initially produced by the electron-collision excitation in the upper-level population. Thus, the directly observed decay of the emission-line intensity is different from the decay of the upper-level population. We have observed the radiative relaxation of alignment on the neon 2 p 2 level which is a complementary effect to coherence narrowing.
Fluorescence has been detected from Rb atoms following narrow-line excitation by a short coherent optical pulse. The fluorescence oscillates as a function of the pulse area AAA with maxima for $A=\ensuremath{\pi},3\ensuremath{\pi},5\ensuremath{\pi},\dots{}$ and minima for $A=0,2\ensuremath{\pi},4\ensuremath{\pi},\dots{}$. In addition to demonstrating one of the simplest coherent optical effects, this experiment dramatizes the potential of the technique for determining dipole moments, pulse areas, relaxation times, and lifetimes. The details of the experimental apparatus are described. Results of a computer simulation of the experiment including the actuai excitation pulse shape, absorption frequency width, finite absorption (5-10% of pulse), and loss to a third level are given.
A type of double resonance experiment is reported in which resonance fluorescence from an atomic vapour is excited by modulated light. The amplitude of modulation of the fluorescent light undergoes changes which indicate an atomic resonance when the frequency of modulation is equal to the Larmor frequency of the atoms in an applied magnetic field, or equal to twice that frequency. The effects have been studied in the intercombination line, λ 3261 A, of cadmium. They are in good agreement with theoretical predictions. The method could be applied to the spectroscopy of excited atoms.