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Physical Review Letters

Optical Pumping of Dense Charge-Exchange Targets for Polarized Ion Sources

Wayne D. Cornelius, DAVID J. TAYLOR, R. L. York, E. A. Hinds

Published Sep 20, 1982• 38 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Optical pumping by a single-frequency cw ring dye laser of thick sodium vapor targets ($\mathrm{NL}>{10}^{13}$ atoms/${\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$) without buffer gas has been investigated for application in a polarized ion source. The atomic polarization of the sodium was determined from the optical rotation of a second dye laser tuned midway between the $D$ lines. Rate-equation calculations reproduce the experimental data and predict very high polarizations ($P>~0.8$) with the use of one or more single-frequency dye lasers in thick alkali-metal vapor targets.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.49.870

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Physical Review A•Oct 1, 1989•70 citations
Optical pumping by a single-frequency cw ring dye laser of thick sodium vapor targets (NL>1013\mathrm{NL}>{10}^{13}NL>1013 atoms/cm2{\mathrm{cm}}^{2}cm2) without buffer gas has been investigated for application in a polarized ion source. The atomic polarization of the sodium was determined from the optical rotation of a second dye laser tuned midway between the DDD lines. Rate-equation calculations reproduce the experimental data and predict very high polarizations (P> 0.8P>~0.8P> 0.8) with the use of one or more single-frequency dye lasers in thick alkali-metal vapor targets.
Optical pumping of an optically thick atomic vapor typically requires a quenching buffer gas, such as N2, to prevent radiation trapping of unpolarized photons which would depolarize the atoms. We show that optical pumping of a trace contamination of Rb present in K metal results in a 4.5 times higher polarization of K than direct optical pumping of K in the absence of N2. Such spin-exchange polarization transfer from optically thin species is useful in a variety of areas, including spin-polarized nuclear scattering targets and electron beams, quantum-nondemolition spin measurements, and ultrasensitive magnetometry.
A highly polarized 23Na^{23}\mathrm{Na}23Na atomic beam is produced by optical pumping with the use of either a multimode cw dye laser or a single-mode ring dye laser followed by a double-passed acousto-optic modulator. Electron-spin polarizations of 0.72 to 0.90 are obtained.
The polarizations of sodium atoms optically pumped by a single-mode cw ring dye laser were measured as a function of the pumping power, sodium-vapor thickness, and external magnetic field for Pyrex glass and copper walls with and without dry-film coating. Observed quantities were analyzed by a simple optical pumping model in which the effect of the radiation trapping was taken into account. Assuming that the depolarization of the sodium atom was mainly induced by the local magnetic field at the sodium atom during its adsorption on the wall surface, the calculations could successfully reproduce the observed polarizations.
The use of high-power ${\mathrm{Ga}}_{1\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}\mathit{x}}$Alx{\mathrm{Al}}_{\mathit{x}}Alx​As diode laser arrays for optical pumping of Rb vapor has been examined both theoretically and experimentally. Our studies show that large atomic polarizations can be obtained using the broad spectral output of a diode laser array if the Rb resonance line is collisionally broadened by several atmospheres of a buffer gas. The objective was to study the effectiveness of diode laser arrays as light sources for optically pumped spin-exchange polarized 3He^{3}\mathrm{He}3He targets. The average Rb polarization was deduced at three different Rb vapor pressures using the polarization induced in the 3He^{3}\mathrm{He}3He buffer gas. The largest 3He^{3}\mathrm{He}3He polarization observed was 53% using a 20-W diode array with 1.9-nm full width at half maximum spectral width in 10.5 amagat of 3He^{3}\mathrm{He}3He. This result compares favorably with other light sources for this target. The measured average Rb polarizations are compared to theoretical calculations.
We describe a sensitive technique for observing small transverse modifications to intensity, phase, and polarization arising in nonlinear propagation of a laser beam through an atomic vapor. The technique, which in essence is an interferometric one, is based on the use of crossed polarizers that are nearly but not exactly pure circular. Illustrative results are presented for cw dye-laser radiation propagating through collisionally broadened atomic sodium that is near resonant to the D1 line. Well-defined ring patterns produced by nonlinear interactions are observed at both positive and negative laser detunings.
We have studied laser optical pumping of Rb at densities up to 4\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}1014{10}^{14}1014 atoms/cm3{\mathrm{cm}}^{3}cm3 and produced polarized 3He^{3}\mathrm{He}3He by spin exchange with Rb. Numerical calculations show that for a high-density Rb vapor GaAlAs diode laser arrays can provide results similar to those obtained with a broadband Kr+{\mathrm{Kr}}^{+}Kr+-ion--dye-laser system. We have confirmed these calculations with measurements using a 40-GHz full width at half maximum bandwidth dye laser and 100- and 500-mW GaAlAs diode laser arrays (Spectra Diode Labs Array Nos. SDL-2410C and SDL-2450C). We have optically pumped Rb of density [Rb]=4\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}1014{10}^{14}1014 atoms/cm3{\mathrm{cm}}^{3}cm3, and we have measured up to 70% 3He^{3}\mathrm{He}3He polarization in a 4-cm3{\mathrm{cm}}^{3}cm3 volume with 600 mW from the dye laser. With the diode laser arrays, we have pumped with 30 and 300 mW with results comparable to those obtained with the dye laser. With a 1-W diode laser array, we anticipate 70--80 % 3He^{3}\mathrm{He}3He polarization in a 4-cm3{\mathrm{cm}}^{3}cm3 volume.