Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Physical Review A

Rabi oscillations in the optical pumping of a metastable neon beam with a cw dye laser

J. P. C. Kroon, H. A. J. Senhorst, Herman C. W. Beijerinck, BOUDEWIJN J. VERHAAR, N.F. Verster

Published Jun 1, 1985• 39 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We report the measurement of Rabi oscillations in the optical pumping of a beam of metastable neon atoms in a three-level system with a cw dye laser. The laser beam is focused on the atomic beam, resulting in an interaction time with the laser beam of the order of the spontaneous lifetime of the induced transition. The Rabi oscillations are measured by a velocity-resolved analysis of the optically pumped metastable atoms. Adiabatic following is observed when the atoms cross the laser beam outside the waist, induced by the Doppler shifts due to the curvature of the wave fronts.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.31.3724

Related papers

TOF analysis of an optically pumped metastable neon beam

J. P. C. Kroon, Herman C. W. Beijerinck, N.F. Verster

Optical pumping of a Ne beam is reported. The flight source used was single mode, frequency stabilized dye laser. The light beam and the atomic beam were crossed at right angles. The optical pumping was investigated by mearusing the fluorescence, and the metastable atoms were detected by secondary electron emission fraom a steel surface.(AIP)

The Journal of Chemical Physics•Jun 1, 1981•19 citations

Backward saturation in four-wave mixing in neon: Case of cross-polarized pumps

M. Pinard, Philippe Verkerk, G. Grynberg

The effect of an intense pump beam on the intensity of the phase-conjugated emission is studied in the case of a three-level atom. We first extend to the case of cross-polarized pump beams the dressed-atom model that we have presented previously [Phys. Rev. A 34, 4008 (1986)] for the case of two-level atoms. The range of validity of our theory is \ensuremath{\Gamma} (natural width) ${\ensuremath{\Omega}}_{1}$ (Rabi frequency of the intense pump) ku (Doppler width). We have studied the line shape in degenerate four-wave mixing, the influence of a static magnetic field, and the resonances that appear in nondegenerate four-wave mixing. Experiments are done in a neon discharge using cw dye lasers. The experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical predictions. In degenerate four-wave mixing, we have shown that the saturating dip disappears when the weak beams have orthogonal polarizations. In the presence of a static magnetic field and in the nearly degenerate case, narrow resonances corresponding to transitions between energy levels of the dressed atom are observed. The intensity and the width of these resonances are in very good agreement with the predictions of the theoretical model.

Physical Review A•Jun 1, 1987•32 citations

Selection of motionless atoms with optical pumping

M. Pinard, Lucile Julien

The velocity selective optical pumping method has been extended to the selection of three components of the atomic velocities. Three non-coplanar pumping beams and a detection beam are used, all of them originating from the same laser. The signal proceeds from crossed non-linear effects depending on each of the pumping-beam intensities. This method has been demonstrated experimentally with metastable neon atoms and signals have been obtained due to almost motionless atoms in space.

Journal of Physics B Atomic and Molecular Physics•Sep 28, 1984•4 citations

State purification of a fast neon metastable beam by collinear optical pumping

T. Dean Gaily, M. J. Coggiola, James R. Peterson +1 more

An apparatus has been constructed to produce well-characterized fast beams of rare gas metastable atoms for subsequent scattering experiments. Optical pumping by a collinear laser beam can be used to selectively remove either of the two metastable components from the beam. Laser-induced-fluorescence (LIF) techniques can be used to determine the original beam composition and to monitor composition changes resulting from optical absorption. These techniques have been successfully applied to a metastable neon beam produced by near-resonant charge transfer of Ne+ in Na. A simple model has been developed which accurately reproduces the observed LIF lineshape generated by tuning the laser throught the optical transition frequency.

Review of Scientific Instruments•Sep 1, 1980•17 citations

Sub-Doppler Resonances Caused by Rabi Oscillations on Atomic Transitions in Thin Gas Cells

А. Ч. Измайлов

Abstract Excitation of atoms from the ground quantum level to a metastable state by traveling monochromatic radiation in a thin gas cell, the internal thickness of which is much smaller than its radius, is studied theoretically. Sub-Doppler resonances are detected and analyzed that arise in the population of a metastable atomic level due to light-induced Rabi oscillations on a given optical transition and specific features of transit-time relaxation of atoms in a considered cell with a rarified gas upon scanning the radiation frequency. Such nontrivial resonances can be recorded in fluorescence of atoms with the help of an additional probe light beam. A method is proposed for a direct measurement of the Rabi frequency from spectral intervals between detected sub-Doppler resonances. The results obtained can be applied in atomic spectroscopy for the precision determination of components of dipole moment matrix elements, as well as for the Einstein coefficients and oscillator strengths related to these components, for quantum transitions between the ground and metastable levels of atoms.

Optics and Spectroscopy•Jun 1, 2019•1 citation

Backward saturation in four-wave mixing in neon: Case of parallel pump polarizations

Philippe Verkerk, M. Pinard, G. Grynberg

We present in this paper a theoretical and experimental study of the effect of an intense pump beam on four-wave-mixing emission in the geometry of phase conjugation. The theoretical model is developed for \ensuremath{\Gamma} (natural width) ${\ensuremath{\Omega}}_{1}$ (Rabi frequency of the intense pump) ku (Doppler width) and uses the dressed-atom approach. We have analyzed degenerate and nearly degenerate four-wave mixing. In this latter case, we have studied three situations according to which beam (intense pump, weak pump, or probe) has a different frequency. The experimental study has been done in a neon cell using cw lasers. Our experimental results are in excellent agreement with theory. This study shows the need to take into account the atomic motion in the theory. However a quantitative analysis cannot be done assuming an infinite Doppler width and we show the importance of the Boltzmann factor. In the case of nearly degenerate four-wave mixing, narrow resonances corresponding to transitions between energy levels of the dressed atom are observed.

Physical Review A•Nov 1, 1986•23 citations
We report the measurement of Rabi oscillations in the optical pumping of a beam of metastable neon atoms in a three-level system with a cw dye laser. The laser beam is focused on the atomic beam, resulting in an interaction time with the laser beam of the order of the spontaneous lifetime of the induced transition. The Rabi oscillations are measured by a velocity-resolved analysis of the optically pumped metastable atoms. Adiabatic following is observed when the atoms cross the laser beam outside the waist, induced by the Doppler shifts due to the curvature of the wave fronts.
The effect of an intense pump beam on the intensity of the phase-conjugated emission is studied in the case of a three-level atom. We first extend to the case of cross-polarized pump beams the dressed-atom model that we have presented previously [Phys. Rev. A 34, 4008 (1986)] for the case of two-level atoms. The range of validity of our theory is \ensuremath{\Gamma} (natural width) ${\ensuremath{\Omega}}_{1}$ (Rabi frequency of the intense pump) ku (Doppler width). We have studied the line shape in degenerate four-wave mixing, the influence of a static magnetic field, and the resonances that appear in nondegenerate four-wave mixing. Experiments are done in a neon discharge using cw dye lasers. The experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical predictions. In degenerate four-wave mixing, we have shown that the saturating dip disappears when the weak beams have orthogonal polarizations. In the presence of a static magnetic field and in the nearly degenerate case, narrow resonances corresponding to transitions between energy levels of the dressed atom are observed. The intensity and the width of these resonances are in very good agreement with the predictions of the theoretical model.
An apparatus has been constructed to produce well-characterized fast beams of rare gas metastable atoms for subsequent scattering experiments. Optical pumping by a collinear laser beam can be used to selectively remove either of the two metastable components from the beam. Laser-induced-fluorescence (LIF) techniques can be used to determine the original beam composition and to monitor composition changes resulting from optical absorption. These techniques have been successfully applied to a metastable neon beam produced by near-resonant charge transfer of Ne+ in Na. A simple model has been developed which accurately reproduces the observed LIF lineshape generated by tuning the laser throught the optical transition frequency.
Abstract Excitation of atoms from the ground quantum level to a metastable state by traveling monochromatic radiation in a thin gas cell, the internal thickness of which is much smaller than its radius, is studied theoretically. Sub-Doppler resonances are detected and analyzed that arise in the population of a metastable atomic level due to light-induced Rabi oscillations on a given optical transition and specific features of transit-time relaxation of atoms in a considered cell with a rarified gas upon scanning the radiation frequency. Such nontrivial resonances can be recorded in fluorescence of atoms with the help of an additional probe light beam. A method is proposed for a direct measurement of the Rabi frequency from spectral intervals between detected sub-Doppler resonances. The results obtained can be applied in atomic spectroscopy for the precision determination of components of dipole moment matrix elements, as well as for the Einstein coefficients and oscillator strengths related to these components, for quantum transitions between the ground and metastable levels of atoms.
We present in this paper a theoretical and experimental study of the effect of an intense pump beam on four-wave-mixing emission in the geometry of phase conjugation. The theoretical model is developed for \ensuremath{\Gamma} (natural width) ${\ensuremath{\Omega}}_{1}$ (Rabi frequency of the intense pump) ku (Doppler width) and uses the dressed-atom approach. We have analyzed degenerate and nearly degenerate four-wave mixing. In this latter case, we have studied three situations according to which beam (intense pump, weak pump, or probe) has a different frequency. The experimental study has been done in a neon cell using cw lasers. Our experimental results are in excellent agreement with theory. This study shows the need to take into account the atomic motion in the theory. However a quantitative analysis cannot be done assuming an infinite Doppler width and we show the importance of the Boltzmann factor. In the case of nearly degenerate four-wave mixing, narrow resonances corresponding to transitions between energy levels of the dressed atom are observed.