Spectral studies of a rubidium light source

Alan D. Streater, Jaap J. Mooibroek, J. P. Woerdman

R. J. Atkinson, G. D. Chapman, L. Krause

A description is given of radio frequency light sources which produce potassium and rubidium resonance radiation of high intensity. The properties of the spectral lamps have been systematically investigated in relation to their operating parameters. The rf lamps emit resonance lines of much higher peak intensities, smaller halfwidths and smaller degrees of self-reversal than do commercially available lamps. Typical halfwidths of the resonance lines of potassium and rubidium produced by the rf sources were found to be 0.15 cm−1 and 0.37 cm−1, respectively, compared with the corresponding widths of 0.34 cm−1 and 1.5 cm−1, respectively, emitted by Osram spectral lamps operated at low currents.

T. Rieper, T. Rose, Volkmar Helbig +1 more

Boris S. Leonov, Robert T. Randolph, Anuj Rekhy +3 more

This work presents the first, to the best of our knowledge, experimental demonstration of slow light imaging spectroscopy for thermometry of liquid water. This novel technique for measuring temperature relies on detecting the spectral shift of Brillouin peaks in water using the temporal delay through a cell containing an atomic vapor. Stand-off sensing capabilities are achieved by time-domain measurements of Brillouin scattering tuned to be near a rubidium atomic resonance and passed through a cell filled with rubidium vapor. An injection seeded optical parametric oscillator (OPO) is demonstrated to be a versatile light source for slow light imaging spectroscopy applications. The narrow OPO pulse spectrum allows for a precise profiling of slow light features of rubidium and accurate tracking of the temperature dependence of Brillouin scattering spectral shift. A comparison between the experimental data and numerical simulation over a temperature range of 20 to 99 degrees Celsius shows a good agreement for both qualitative and quantitative results.

Ignacio Enrique Olivares Bahamondes, Patrick Carrazana

Nobuhiko Ito

A frequency-doubled diode laser spectrometer in the blue-wavelength region with a continuous-frequency tuning range of up to ∼7 GHz has been developed, comprising a powerful fundamental light source based on a master/slave laser combination coupled with a KNbO3 crystal for second-harmonic generation in a power-enhancement cavity. It has been employed for the observation of saturated absorption spectra in 52S1/2–62P1/2 hyperfine transitions of atomic rubidium with the aid of a modulation transfer spectroscopic technique, and also the frequency stabilization to one of them has been demonstrated, suggesting the possibility of the establishment of a precision optical frequency marker in the blue range. A relative stability of better than 2.8×10−10 is estimated based on the locked error signal in the preliminary stabilization. With a further study of the frequency instability and uncertainty, in addition to supplementary improvements of apparatus, one may expect a realization of a stabilized laser in the blue-spectral domain. Details of the developed blue-light source are described and the demonstrated results of the rubidium spectroscopy are also described and discussed.