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Journal of Physics B Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics

A novel technique for the elimination of the hyperfine effect on the polarization of atomic line radiation

Ali Zaidi, Hans Kleinpoppen

Published May 28, 1993• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The authors report measurements of the polarization of fluorescent radiation at 253.7 nm (6 1 S 0 -6 3 P 1 ) from even isotopes of mercury which arises from the alignment caused by electron beam excitation. The salient feature of the experimental technique adopted is that the use of an isotope cell allowed the performance of the electron impact excitation on an atomic beam of natural isotopic composition instead of using separated isotopes. The cell containing enriched samples of the odd isotopes of mercury filtered the fluorescent radiation and so reduced the contribution to the signal arising from these isotopes in the natural mixture atomic beam. In this way the hyperfine effect on the measurement of the polarization of this atomic line radiation has been eliminated. The experimental results are in very good agreement with theoretical values.

DOI
10.1088/0953-4075/26/10/009

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Hyperfine effect on the polarisation of the 63P1-61S0intercombination line of mercury excited by electron impact

Ali Zaidi, Ian A. McGregor, Hans Kleinpoppen

An isotope cell was used to eliminate the effect of hyperfine structure on the polarisation of radiation, near threshold, for the 6 3 P 1 -6 1 S 0 line of mercury (253.7 nm) excited by electron impact. These results are compared with the polarisation of the radiation when hyperfine structure is present.

Journal of Physics B Atomic and Molecular Physics•Mar 14, 1978•9 citations

Isotopically selective photoionization of mercury atoms

P. L. Dyer, George C. Baldwin, Carter Kittrell +2 more

Isotopically selective resonance ionization of mercury atoms has been accomplished by three-step excitation via the 6 3P1 and 8 1S0 excited states. Three collinear beams, respectively 254, 286, and 532 nm, from two dye lasers and a pulsed neodymium:yttrium aluminum garnet (ND:YAG) pump laser, were passed through a closed mercury vapor cell containing electrodes to which the ions were drawn by an electric field. The ion current and the 254-nm fluorescence radiation were measured as a function of laser wavelengths. Hyperfine structures for the 254- and 286-nm transitions were observed.

Applied Physics Letters•Feb 15, 1983•16 citations

Hyperfine structure effects in probing atomic alignment

I. M. Bell, C. J. K. Quayle, Keith R. Burnett

We have performed an analysis of the effect of hyperfine structure in an experiment in which an aligned excited state is probed using linearly polarized light. The state is born with a given electronic alignment resulting from a collisional process. It is probed after a time which is short in comparison to its radiative lifetime but much longer than ω−1hfs, where ℏωhfs is the hyperfine splitting. This means that hyperfine structure has ample time to ‘‘develop.’’ It is therefore essential to take into account both the hyperfine structure of the level and the manner in which the alignment is affected by recoupling to the new basis. Ratios of fluorescent intensities for different laser polarization configurations contain information on the alignment of the system. We show how these may be calculated for a system with several isotopes, some of which have hyperfine structure, and where many components are probed with appreciable strength. A comparison is made with our experimental results for the Hg(6 3P1) level probed on the 6 3P1–7 3S1 transition. The presence of hyperfine structure has a considerable influence on the measurements. It is important to understand such effects if one is to obtain information on the nascent electronic alignment by observation of the fluorescent intensities.

The Journal of Chemical Physics•Feb 1, 1995•1 citation

Polarization of Radiation Excited by Electron Impact

A. Ellett, Paul D. Foote, Fred L. Mohler

Polarized radiation following electron impact.---If a unidirectional beam of electrons, of velocity slightly in excess of the resonance potential, is projected through a vapor at a very low pressure so that effects due to atomic collision and resonance radiation are negligible, and in the absence of an applied field and resulting Larmor precession, there is reason to suspect that the radiation emitted perpendicular to the electron beam should be partially polarized, especially for lines corresponding to $\ensuremath{\Delta}j=1$.Polarization in mercury and sodium vapor.---Experiment showed a polarization of about 30 percent for $\ensuremath{\lambda}2537$ with the greatest intensity of the electrical vibration having a direction perpendicular to the electron beam. No polarization was detected for the unresolved sodium D-lines, confirming the recent observation of Kossel and Gerthsen.Polarization in mercury with field of 3 gauss.---A field parallel to the electron beam produced no effect. With the field perpendicular to the beam the radiation along the field was unpolarized while that perpendicular to the field was reduced in polarization to 13 percent. These results suggest that the atom radiates with the same distribution of polarization and intensity as in zero field but with the atom rotated through an angle determined by the time of excitation and the precessional velocity.

Physical Review•Jan 1, 1926•19 citations

The polarization of atomic line radiation excited by electron impact

Ian Colin Percival, M. J. Seaton

Abstract The dipole radiation emitted by an atom excited by a unidirectional electron beam has a nonuniform angular distribution which is simply related to the percentage polarization P of the radiation emitted perpendicular to the beam. P was first calculated using the OppenheimerPenney (O.-P.) theory. In this theory the probability of excitation of an upper quantum state and the probability of subsequent emission of a polarized photon from such a state are considered independently. P is finally expressed in terms of the cross-sections QM for excitation of states of definite component of angular momentum along the direction of the electron beam. In general, P is dependent on detailed numerical calculations of QM j, but the selection rule A = 0 removes this dependence at threshold. In the O.-P. theory allowance may be made for fine structure and hyperfine structure, but the theory is ambiguous when the f.s. or h.f.s. separations are comparable with the line width. A theory is therefore developed which is based on the calculation of the probability of a polarized photon being emitted by the complete system of atom + electron. The ambiguity of the O.-P. theory is removed by integration over line profiles, but the expressions reduce to O.-P. expressions when the f.s. or h.f.s. separations are much smaller or much larger than the line width. The Lyot line of hydrogen is an intermediate case for which the line widths and the h.f.s. separations are comparable. Assuming the validity of the Born approximation, a simple expression is obtained which allows the QM to be calculated from the angular distribution of the scattered electrons. Theoretical predictions are compared with experimental results. For the Na£) lines the predicted polarization is small enough to escape experimental detection. Polarizations observed by - Skinner & Appleyard in 1927 for various Hg lines rise to maxima with decreasing electron energy, and then tend to values close to zero at threshold. These experimental results at low energies appear to be inexplicable in terms of the reactions considered, but if the polarization curve above the maximum is extrapolated to threshold, the theory and experiment are found to be in reasonable agreement. Further experimental work is thought to be desirable

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series A Mathematical and Physical Sciences•Nov 6, 1958•573 citations

A stepwise electron-photon coincidence experiment on the 61P1 state of mercury

Andrew James Murray

A new type of electron/photon coincidence experiment is presented which utilises a laser -electron stepwise excitation technique to prepare atoms in an excited state. An electron collision initially excites an atom from the ground state to an intermediate state. Following this electron excitation process, coherent single mode laser radiation further excites the atom to an upper state, from which the fluorescence is observed. The nature of the laser excitation transfers both amplitude and phase information about the electron excited state to the upper excited state in a coherent way. This information is extracted from the upper state fluorescence by analysis of the fluorescence polarization in coincidence with the electron scattered from the atom for particular polarizations of the laser radiation. The coincidence technique allows an identically prepared sub -ensemble of excited atoms to be selected for measurement. The electron excited state studied was the 61131 state of mercury, excited by a beam of unpolarized electrons at an impact energy of 16 eV. The mercury atomic beam was isotopically selected following electron excitation using the narrow bandwidth of the laser radiation. Excitation from the electron excited 61P1 state was via 579 nm laser radiation to the 61D2 state and fluorescence was monitored from this state to the 63P1 state via a 313 nm transition. Stokes parameters were measured for two different laser polarization angles, since this allowed a complete set of collision parameters to be deduced for a single experimental geometry. Results for three different scattering angles at this energy are presented. The laser excitation process was modelled in both the weak and the strong laser excitation regimes. A perturbation approach developed to model single photon laser excitation allowed the collision parameters to be extracted from the measured coincidence Stokes parameters analytically, whereas a Quantum Electrodynamic model allowed high laser intensity effects on the coincidence signal to be explored theoretically. The Quantum Electrodynamic model indicated that the weak excitation model could be used to extract the collision parameters from the Stokes parameters at the laser intensities used in the experiment. Effects due to variation of the laser intensity were predicted from the Quantum Electrodynamic model and experiments conducted to test these predictions are presented. Collision parameters deduced from the measured stepwise coincidence Stokes parameters following optimization of the experimental conditions are presented. These parameters are compared qualitatively with existing data from heavy atomic systems and with a theoretical model based upon the Distorted Wave Born Approximation. Similarities between the experimental data are found, however significant discrepancies are noted between the parameters obtained here and with the predictions of the theoretical model.

•Jan 1, 1989•0 citations
The authors report measurements of the polarization of fluorescent radiation at 253.7 nm (6 1 S 0 -6 3 P 1 ) from even isotopes of mercury which arises from the alignment caused by electron beam excitation. The salient feature of the experimental technique adopted is that the use of an isotope cell allowed the performance of the electron impact excitation on an atomic beam of natural isotopic composition instead of using separated isotopes. The cell containing enriched samples of the odd isotopes of mercury filtered the fluorescent radiation and so reduced the contribution to the signal arising from these isotopes in the natural mixture atomic beam. In this way the hyperfine effect on the measurement of the polarization of this atomic line radiation has been eliminated. The experimental results are in very good agreement with theoretical values.
Isotopically selective resonance ionization of mercury atoms has been accomplished by three-step excitation via the 6 3P1 and 8 1S0 excited states. Three collinear beams, respectively 254, 286, and 532 nm, from two dye lasers and a pulsed neodymium:yttrium aluminum garnet (ND:YAG) pump laser, were passed through a closed mercury vapor cell containing electrodes to which the ions were drawn by an electric field. The ion current and the 254-nm fluorescence radiation were measured as a function of laser wavelengths. Hyperfine structures for the 254- and 286-nm transitions were observed.
We have performed an analysis of the effect of hyperfine structure in an experiment in which an aligned excited state is probed using linearly polarized light. The state is born with a given electronic alignment resulting from a collisional process. It is probed after a time which is short in comparison to its radiative lifetime but much longer than ω−1hfs, where ℏωhfs is the hyperfine splitting. This means that hyperfine structure has ample time to ‘‘develop.’’ It is therefore essential to take into account both the hyperfine structure of the level and the manner in which the alignment is affected by recoupling to the new basis. Ratios of fluorescent intensities for different laser polarization configurations contain information on the alignment of the system. We show how these may be calculated for a system with several isotopes, some of which have hyperfine structure, and where many components are probed with appreciable strength. A comparison is made with our experimental results for the Hg(6 3P1) level probed on the 6 3P1–7 3S1 transition. The presence of hyperfine structure has a considerable influence on the measurements. It is important to understand such effects if one is to obtain information on the nascent electronic alignment by observation of the fluorescent intensities.
Polarized radiation following electron impact.---If a unidirectional beam of electrons, of velocity slightly in excess of the resonance potential, is projected through a vapor at a very low pressure so that effects due to atomic collision and resonance radiation are negligible, and in the absence of an applied field and resulting Larmor precession, there is reason to suspect that the radiation emitted perpendicular to the electron beam should be partially polarized, especially for lines corresponding to $\ensuremath{\Delta}j=1$.Polarization in mercury and sodium vapor.---Experiment showed a polarization of about 30 percent for $\ensuremath{\lambda}2537$ with the greatest intensity of the electrical vibration having a direction perpendicular to the electron beam. No polarization was detected for the unresolved sodium D-lines, confirming the recent observation of Kossel and Gerthsen.Polarization in mercury with field of 3 gauss.---A field parallel to the electron beam produced no effect. With the field perpendicular to the beam the radiation along the field was unpolarized while that perpendicular to the field was reduced in polarization to 13 percent. These results suggest that the atom radiates with the same distribution of polarization and intensity as in zero field but with the atom rotated through an angle determined by the time of excitation and the precessional velocity.
Abstract The dipole radiation emitted by an atom excited by a unidirectional electron beam has a nonuniform angular distribution which is simply related to the percentage polarization P of the radiation emitted perpendicular to the beam. P was first calculated using the OppenheimerPenney (O.-P.) theory. In this theory the probability of excitation of an upper quantum state and the probability of subsequent emission of a polarized photon from such a state are considered independently. P is finally expressed in terms of the cross-sections QM for excitation of states of definite component of angular momentum along the direction of the electron beam. In general, P is dependent on detailed numerical calculations of QM j, but the selection rule A = 0 removes this dependence at threshold. In the O.-P. theory allowance may be made for fine structure and hyperfine structure, but the theory is ambiguous when the f.s. or h.f.s. separations are comparable with the line width. A theory is therefore developed which is based on the calculation of the probability of a polarized photon being emitted by the complete system of atom + electron. The ambiguity of the O.-P. theory is removed by integration over line profiles, but the expressions reduce to O.-P. expressions when the f.s. or h.f.s. separations are much smaller or much larger than the line width. The Lyot line of hydrogen is an intermediate case for which the line widths and the h.f.s. separations are comparable. Assuming the validity of the Born approximation, a simple expression is obtained which allows the QM to be calculated from the angular distribution of the scattered electrons. Theoretical predictions are compared with experimental results. For the Na£) lines the predicted polarization is small enough to escape experimental detection. Polarizations observed by - Skinner & Appleyard in 1927 for various Hg lines rise to maxima with decreasing electron energy, and then tend to values close to zero at threshold. These experimental results at low energies appear to be inexplicable in terms of the reactions considered, but if the polarization curve above the maximum is extrapolated to threshold, the theory and experiment are found to be in reasonable agreement. Further experimental work is thought to be desirable
A new type of electron/photon coincidence experiment is presented which utilises a laser -electron stepwise excitation technique to prepare atoms in an excited state. An electron collision initially excites an atom from the ground state to an intermediate state. Following this electron excitation process, coherent single mode laser radiation further excites the atom to an upper state, from which the fluorescence is observed. The nature of the laser excitation transfers both amplitude and phase information about the electron excited state to the upper excited state in a coherent way. This information is extracted from the upper state fluorescence by analysis of the fluorescence polarization in coincidence with the electron scattered from the atom for particular polarizations of the laser radiation. The coincidence technique allows an identically prepared sub -ensemble of excited atoms to be selected for measurement. The electron excited state studied was the 61131 state of mercury, excited by a beam of unpolarized electrons at an impact energy of 16 eV. The mercury atomic beam was isotopically selected following electron excitation using the narrow bandwidth of the laser radiation. Excitation from the electron excited 61P1 state was via 579 nm laser radiation to the 61D2 state and fluorescence was monitored from this state to the 63P1 state via a 313 nm transition. Stokes parameters were measured for two different laser polarization angles, since this allowed a complete set of collision parameters to be deduced for a single experimental geometry. Results for three different scattering angles at this energy are presented. The laser excitation process was modelled in both the weak and the strong laser excitation regimes. A perturbation approach developed to model single photon laser excitation allowed the collision parameters to be extracted from the measured coincidence Stokes parameters analytically, whereas a Quantum Electrodynamic model allowed high laser intensity effects on the coincidence signal to be explored theoretically. The Quantum Electrodynamic model indicated that the weak excitation model could be used to extract the collision parameters from the Stokes parameters at the laser intensities used in the experiment. Effects due to variation of the laser intensity were predicted from the Quantum Electrodynamic model and experiments conducted to test these predictions are presented. Collision parameters deduced from the measured stepwise coincidence Stokes parameters following optimization of the experimental conditions are presented. These parameters are compared qualitatively with existing data from heavy atomic systems and with a theoretical model based upon the Distorted Wave Born Approximation. Similarities between the experimental data are found, however significant discrepancies are noted between the parameters obtained here and with the predictions of the theoretical model.