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Optics Letters

Narrow-band resonance-ionization and fluorescence imaging in a mercury-vapor cell

Oleg I. Matveev, Benjamin W. Smith, James D. Winefordner

Published Feb 15, 1998• 18 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Characteristics of a novel type of ultranarrow-band image detector have been experimentally studied. The principle of this new imaging approach is to detect a resonance-ionization and (or) fluorescence-imaging signal formed on a thin planar cell filled with atomic vapor. A planar vapor cell with a thickness of 1.6 mm was used for imaging 253.7-nm radiation by Hg atoms. One- and two-dimensional images were produced and detected with ionization and fluorescence-signal acquisition. The feasibility of atomic-vapor image detectors with a spectral resolution of several megahertz is discussed.

DOI
10.1364/ol.23.000304

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Optics Express•Jan 1, 2006•1 citation
Characteristics of a novel type of ultranarrow-band image detector have been experimentally studied. The principle of this new imaging approach is to detect a resonance-ionization and (or) fluorescence-imaging signal formed on a thin planar cell filled with atomic vapor. A planar vapor cell with a thickness of 1.6 mm was used for imaging 253.7-nm radiation by Hg atoms. One- and two-dimensional images were produced and detected with ionization and fluorescence-signal acquisition. The feasibility of atomic-vapor image detectors with a spectral resolution of several megahertz is discussed.
A novel method of ultrahigh-resolution, frequency-resolved imaging using atomic vapor cells is proposed. The method is based on the accurate measurement of the fluorescence signal intensity distribution along the absorption path length when the signal frequency is tuned to a wing of the atomic absorption line. Two-step resonance fluorescence of Hg202 vapor was used for one-dimensional imaging of the Hg resonance radiation at 253.7 nm. An imaging signal with a frequency difference of 500 MHz could be easily distinguished visually and even a frequency difference of 80 MHz could be detected after appropriate processing of the fluorescence imaging signal. Several other novel methods of one- and two-dimensional multifrequency imaging are discussed.
The basic characteristics, figures of merit and potential applications of laser radar with atomic vapor ultra- narrowband imaging detectors (UBID) are discussed. One of the most important figures of merit of a narrowband imaging spectrometer used in a laser radar is the product of throughput and spectral resolution. The atomic vapor UBID, compared with all known spectral imaging instruments, can potentially have a throughput-resolution product up to a million times greater. It is theoretically shown that despite hyperfine structure, one can have smooth characteristics well-suited for an ultranarrowband resonance ionization image detector (RIID) by choosing an appropriate ionization scheme for Cs atoms using the 894.3 nm line. Recent experiments with a vacuum cell mercury atomic vapor RIID are described.
A sealed, compact mercury atomic-absorption resonance ionization imaging detector has been developed and evaluated. The sensitivity of the detector as well as its ability to form two-dimensional images has been demonstrated. Images of faint light (1000 photons) have been recorded by image summation. It is shown that one can obtain high-quality images with a spatial resolution of at least 130 mum by detecting the ionic component of the imaging signal. Distortion, more noise, and poorer spatial resolution were observed when the electron component of the signal was detected. We studied the influence of voltage on the cell electrodes to find the conditions for optimum signal-to-noise ratio.
Laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) was studied in the 400–1000 nm wavelength range using narrow-band 852 nm laser radiation resonant with Cs atomic 6S1/2 → 6P3/2 transition. T-shaped cells made entirely of technical sapphire with thicknesses of L = 1 cm, 40 μm, and ~400 nm, containing cesium atomic vapor, were used. It was shown that with the cell thickness decrease (from centimeters to nanometer thicknesses), many LIF signals are suppressed due to an increase in the number of atomic collisions with the walls, leading to quenching of excited states. By recording the LIF signal, it is also possible to estimate the amount of residual Rb atomic vapor (if any exists) in the Cs-containing cell. The Cs vapor cell can serve as an efficient optical frequency converter filter and has other applications.
This paper presents a narrow linewidth, high resolution, and high quantum efficiency imaging transmission filter based on optical trapping of resonance radiation in potassium vapor. The filter can be used to image radiation over a bandwidth narrow enough to fall within a Fraunhofer dark zone in the solar spectrum, and it can be applied to the imaging of flames, plumes or discharges containing potassium. It may also be applicable to the imaging of Raman scattering from a tunable laser. The spectral and imaging properties of the filter are demonstrated with a 1 cm aperture optically thick potassium cell illuminated by a narrow linewidth tunable laser. The spectral width at the potassium D2 line wavelength, 766.5 nm, is shown to be 1 to 2 GHz (.002 nm). At the line center, the quantum efficiency is better than 60% and the imaging resolution is better than 30 line pairs per mm. By employing a 200 micron "thin" potassium vapor cell, it is also shown that the filter maintains the high quantum efficiency (~50%) and good imaging capability (~20 lines per mm) across the 2 GHz spectral bandwidth of the cell. The "thin" cell has an out-of-band rejection of better than 1000. Its operation is demonstrated with a tunable laser as well as with broad band light from a potassium lamp and from a potassium chloride seeded flame.