The polarization spectroscopy of Na D 1 line with linearly polarized pumping light is studied theoretically using velocity-selective optical pumping model. The experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical analysis.
Theoretical analysis of D 1 lines of most stable alkali atoms in velocity selective optical pumping (VSOP) spectroscopy is presented by using the approximation of a single cycle of optical pumping in a four-level system. VSOP spectroscopy is clearly compared with polarization spectroscopy and then it is shown that the results obtained for polarization spectroscopy can be applied to the theory in VSOP spectroscopy. The relative signal intensities of Na D 1 line in polarization spectroscopy have been theoretically calculated and experimentally confirmed to be in good agreement with those in VSOP spectroscopy. The first-order theory in VSOP spectroscopy can be applied to the cases of the D 1 lines of the other alkali atoms. It is expected that the theoretical analysis can be useful for future experiments of the Doppler-free D lines in the alkali atoms.
Doppler-free spectra of linear and circular dichroisms for the hyperfine structures of Na D1 and D2 lines have been obtained by means of polarization-modulated optical pumping spectroscopy. The experimental results are compared with recent theoretical calculations based on velocity-selective optical pumping in a four-level atomic system.
The aim of this paper is to present detailed theory of polarization spectroscopy of Na in the case of a slow relaxation rate of a lower state involved in a resonant transition. An interpretation of the signal in such a polarization spectroscopy is given by combining the theory of birefringence and dichroism with a first-order theory of velocity-selective optical pumping in a four-level system. Because of the high multiplicity of Zeeman levels, the signal is complicated by the occurrence of cross-over resonances in addition to the principal resonances. This interpretation is in good agreement with the experimental results which have been already published about the Na D 1 line.
Doppler-free laser spectroscopy using polarization modulation has been carried out in Na D₁ and D₂ lines. The polarization of the pump beam is modulated between identically and orthogonally to a linear or circular polarization of the probe beam. The recorded signals of the hyperfine and crossover resonances are in agreement with a recent theoretical analysis of Nakayama which is based on velocity-selective optical pumping in a four-level system. Some exceptional discrepancy occuring in the D₂ is considered to be due to several relatively close lying resonances.
The relative intensities of the Doppler-free signals in the transition from polarized and dispersive signals to absorptive signals of the Na D1 line are calculated theoretically from the approximation of a single cycle of opticalpumping in a four-level system. The transition from polarized signals to saturated signals is made by varying the angle of an analyzer. Since the signal in polarization spectroscopy is mixed with the signal in saturation spectroscopy during the transition, spurious signals due to saturation and polarization effects should be taken into account in the signal analysis of polarization and saturation spectroscopies, respectively. Both theories, of polarization spectroscopy and saturation spectroscopy are unified and applied to the Doppler-free signals of the Na D1 line. The results obtained from the four-level optical pumping theory which mixes polarization spectroscopy with saturation spectroscopy are in good agreement with experimental reports.