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Optics and Spectroscopy

Study of the parameters of a thallium atomic beam by the laser resonant atomic photoionization technique

I. Sh. Muzhdabaev, O. Tukhlibaev, A. T. Tursunov, É. É. Khalilov

Published Sep 1, 2002• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The arrangement and operating principle of a setup for studying the main parameters of a beam of thallium atoms using the laser resonance atomic photoionization technique and the experimental results obtained are presented. The measured characteristics are the evaporation time, the atomic beam intensity, the evaporation rate, the saturated vapor pressure, and the heat of thallium evaporation.

DOI
10.1134/1.1509812

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Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE•May 28, 1993•1 citation
The arrangement and operating principle of a setup for studying the main parameters of a beam of thallium atoms using the laser resonance atomic photoionization technique and the experimental results obtained are presented. The measured characteristics are the evaporation time, the atomic beam intensity, the evaporation rate, the saturated vapor pressure, and the heat of thallium evaporation.
Population of metastable levels in a gadolinium atomic beam produced by electron beam heating were measured using the resonance photoionization technique. The population followed the Boltzmann distribution and the atomic excitation temperature was determined. The atomic excitation temperature is far lower than the temperature of the evaporation surface and nearly equal to the temperature which characterizes the distribution in the velocity component parallel to the gadolinium atomic beam axis. This suggests that the atomic excitation energy and the translational energy exchange each other at high reaction rate in the atomic vapor expanding from the evaporation surface into vacuum.
We have observed fluorescence and ionization signals resulting from two-photon resonant excitation of thallium in an atomic beam. The output of a pulsed dye laser is used to excite the resonance between the ground state (6('2)P(,1/2)) and an excited n('2)P state of thallium. Both two-photon absorption and three-photon absorption occur simultaneously; the latter results in photoionization of the atom. The excited states populated by two-photon absorption decay via cascade fluorescence back to the ground state; one or more of these spectral components constitute our fluorescence signal. The lifetimes of the excited n('2)P states of thallium have been measured directly by observing the exponential decay of this fluorescence. Calculations are included to ascertain the time required for the fluorescence signal to reach within 2% of a simple exponential decay. This decay is a measure of the lifetime of the initial state, under the condition that none of the fluorescence components arise from states which are populated by cascade through longer-lived states. The lifetimes of the n('2)P(,1/2) and n('2)P(,3/2) states of thallium for n = 7 to 11 are determined in this manner and compared with the values deduced from semi-empirical calculations of oscillator strengths by various authors. For calculations employing the effects of core polarizability in the electron wavefunctions and in the transition matrix elements, the agreement is very good--to within our experimental uncertainty, which is typically(, )<5%. Our measurements are also compared to the four other known experimental values for such excited states of thallium. Some of these previous experiments and calculations were carried out in conjunction with parity non-conservation experiments in thallium. Our measurements may provide useful checks on the accuracy of some of the calculations performed in the evaluation of such experiments. The ionization and fluorescence signals are also studied under conditions of strong saturation of the two-photon resonance with the 7('2)P states. The manifestation of saturation in the ionization signal is a broadening of the excitation spectrum, which is found to greatly exceed that of the fluorescence signal. Furthermore, the ratio of the ionization signal to the fluorescence signal at the peak of the resonance is found to vary linearly at intensities below about 10('9) W/cm('2); this too saturates at higher intensities. Various models are employed to simulate the observed behavior, encompassing both rate equations as well as density matrix formulations. The numerical solutions to these models are compared with the observed behavior; the agreement is found to depend strongly on the assumed experi- mental conditions to which the ensemble of atoms is subjected.
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.
Results of experiments investigating the influence of resonance radiation trapping on the power and efficiency of the atomic thallium photodissociation laser are reported. Transverse pumping of a thallium iodide cell with added free metallic thallium has enabled conversion efficiencies from the ArF laser pump beam of greater than 7% to be achieved on a single Tl laser transition at λ 535.0 nm. Collisional deexcitation of the 72S1/2 upper laser level imposes a limit on the TlI densities which can be employed.
Among the mainly interesting parameters of an atomic vapor laser isotope separation process is the ionization yield. This parameter can be controlled as long as the laser beam spatial intensity distribution and temporal shape are well defined and not subjected to unexpected disturbing effects such as coherent propagation phenomena, leading to spatial and temporal reshaping with hot spots and pulse lengthening and delays. On the other hand, economical considerations require optically thick atomic columns which can favor such effects. In this work, we study the photoionization yield in atomic thulium vapor when propagation effects occur. We compare our experimental results with those of a coherent propagation code describing a four level system and including inhomogeneous broadening as well as degeneracies. We choose a three step photoionization scheme.