Laser Physics Letters
Polarization rotation of photon echo at J = 0 ↔ 1 transition in magnetic field
В. Н. Ищенко, Sergei A. Kochubei, Хворостов Евгений Борисович, Н. Н. Рубцова, Igor V. Yevseyev
Abstract
Detailed experimental analysis of photon echo polarization in a longitudinal magnetic field is performed for the first time at the simplest quantum transition J = 1 ↔ J = 0 for which the non-Faraday rotation of photon echo polarization plane was predicted. The echo was generated at the intercombination transition (6s6p) 3P1 → (6s2) 1S0 of 174Yb by two resonant laser pulses of linear (parallel or mutually orthogonal) polarization, and the angled echo optical scheme was applied for the detection. At the magnetic field strength ℬ ⩽ 5 G the photon echo has polarization very close to linear one; its polarization plane rotates around magnetic field vector, and photon echo polarization components and integral echo power oscillate versus ℬ from its maximum value to zero, in agreement with theory. At a stronger magnetic field ℬ ∼ 40 G photon echo power oscillations disappear, no preferable orientation of polarization vector is observed; the fluctuations of exciting radiation spectrum are supposed to be responsible for this "non-polarized" echo.