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Physical Review A

Light-induced vapor jets

Sergey Nikitich Atutov, Silvia Gozzini, C. Gabbanini, A. Lucchesini, C. Marinelli, E. Mariotti, L. Moi

Published Oct 1, 1992• 6 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We present experimental evidence of light-induced vapor jets produced by the light-induced-drift effect. They are observed in a cell kept at room temperature, having the active atom source in its central part. The cell has a diameter much larger than that of the laser beam in order to eliminate all interactions with the cell walls. This experiment opens the possibility of studying atomic elements with extremely high temperature of evaporation and/or strong chemical reactivity.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.46.r3601

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We present experimental evidence of light-induced vapor jets produced by the light-induced-drift effect. They are observed in a cell kept at room temperature, having the active atom source in its central part. The cell has a diameter much larger than that of the laser beam in order to eliminate all interactions with the cell walls. This experiment opens the possibility of studying atomic elements with extremely high temperature of evaporation and/or strong chemical reactivity.
The resonance-radiation-pressure effect induced by a broadband long-cavity dye laser has been observed on sodium vapor confined in a capillary cell. The diffusion of the vapor has been studied as a function of laser intensity and vapor density, and the induced drift velocity has been measured. The time evolution of the vapor density is in agreement with the theoretical model under the hypothesis of optimized laser-vapor coupling. The drift velocity and the diffusion coefficient are shown instead to be larger than predicted, indicating an incomplete thermalization of the atoms at the cell walls.
A new light-induced drift effect is discussed in which a white-light source separates a gas mixture containing a single optically active (absorbing) species and a buffer gas which does not interact with the light. A three-level model with one upper level and two closely spaced lower levels is used for the active atoms, and strong collisions with the more abundant surrounding buffer gas atoms are assumed. The intensity spectrum in the vapor (including the effects of hyperfine pumping), and the resulting drift velocity are calculated as a function of optical depth into the vapor.
We address theoretically the effects of a large laser intensity on the phenomenon of light-induced drift. The velocity selectivity of the atom-field interaction decreases due to saturation broadening and this leads to a maximum of the drift velocity as a function of the laser intensity. Analytical expressions for the drift velocity are derived in the case of two-level atoms, assuming a strong collision model. Consequences of this high-field effect are discussed for various manifestations of light-induced drift such as propagation of a soliton in an infinitely long cell, described by the Burgers equation, and collisions of such solitons. The analogy with hydrodynamic shock waves, described by the same Burgers equation, is fruitfully explored. We also address high-field effects on the density distribution produced by light-induced drift in a finite cell. In all these manifestations of light-induced drift the cases of high field and low field show qualitatively different behaviors which are of a complementary nature.