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Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE

Selective reflection studies of molecular cesium vapor

Marina Movsisyan, Svetlana Shmavonyan, A. Papoyan

Published Oct 29, 2010• 6 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We report the preliminary results of experimental studies of a dense cesium vapor in all-sapphire sealed-off Cs cell (temperature up to 500 °C, atomic and molecular densities up to 1018 and 3.2x1016 cm-3, respectively) in selective reflection (SR) configuration. Probing the vapor by a 780 nm laser radiation scanned in 20 GHz range, we have observed a spectral structure, which appears in the vapor temperature range of 250 - 400 °C. Though the cell is filled with pure cesium, starting from 300 °C we have revealed a noticeable SR contribution of rubidium atomic D2 line transitions that fall in the laser tuning range. The spectral features observed in present work can be attributed not only to cesium dimers (Cs2) having absorption band in this spectral region, but also to RbCs molecules. Relevant spectroscopic properties of these molecules are also addressed. We believe this is the first observation of selective reflection from the interface of dielectric and molecular vapor. More experiments and theoretical treatment is required to clarify the mechanisms involved and identify the origin of each spectral component, the further work program is outlined.

DOI
10.1117/12.890233

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We report the preliminary results of experimental studies of a dense cesium vapor in all-sapphire sealed-off Cs cell (temperature up to 500 °C, atomic and molecular densities up to 1018 and 3.2x1016 cm-3, respectively) in selective reflection (SR) configuration. Probing the vapor by a 780 nm laser radiation scanned in 20 GHz range, we have observed a spectral structure, which appears in the vapor temperature range of 250 - 400 °C. Though the cell is filled with pure cesium, starting from 300 °C we have revealed a noticeable SR contribution of rubidium atomic D2 line transitions that fall in the laser tuning range. The spectral features observed in present work can be attributed not only to cesium dimers (Cs2) having absorption band in this spectral region, but also to RbCs molecules. Relevant spectroscopic properties of these molecules are also addressed. We believe this is the first observation of selective reflection from the interface of dielectric and molecular vapor. More experiments and theoretical treatment is required to clarify the mechanisms involved and identify the origin of each spectral component, the further work program is outlined.
In the sealed-off cesium vapor cell studied in this work, a residual rubidium fraction of approximately $\sim1%wasobserved.WeinvestigatetheopticalresponseofthesetraceRbatomsinasealed1 cmlongCs−filledvaporcell.Despitethelowconcentration,laserexcitationat795 nmallowstheobservationofsaturatedabsorptionandelectromagneticallyinducedtransparency(EIT)resonances.ThesurroundingCsvaporeffectivelyactsasabuffermedium,reducingtheRbatomicvelocityandincreasingtheinteractiontimewiththelaserfield,whichimprovestheEITsignal.Theexperimentsareperformedinanall−sapphirecellthatcanbeheatedupto5001\% was observed. We investigate the optical response of these trace Rb atoms in a sealed 1~cm long Cs-filled vapor cell. Despite the low concentration, laser excitation at 795~nm allows the observation of saturated absorption and electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) resonances. The surrounding Cs vapor effectively acts as a buffer medium, reducing the Rb atomic velocity and increasing the interaction time with the laser field, which improves the EIT signal. The experiments are performed in an all-sapphire cell that can be heated up to 5001%wasobserved.WeinvestigatetheopticalresponseofthesetraceRbatomsinasealed1 cmlongCs−filledvaporcell.Despitethelowconcentration,laserexcitationat795 nmallowstheobservationofsaturatedabsorptionandelectromagneticallyinducedtransparency(EIT)resonances.ThesurroundingCsvaporeffectivelyactsasabuffermedium,reducingtheRbatomicvelocityandincreasingtheinteractiontimewiththelaserfield,whichimprovestheEITsignal.Theexperimentsareperformedinanall−sapphirecellthatcanbeheatedupto500^{\circ}$C without window blackening, unlike conventional glass cells. From the measured spectra, Cs--Rb collisional cross sections are estimated. These results show that residual atomic species in high-temperature vapor cells can be exploited for spectroscopic and nonlinear-optical studies.
Abstract The effect of selective reflection (SR) of laser radiation from the boundary of 87 Rb D 2 -line atomic vapors and a dielectric window was studied using a nanocell (NC) with a vapor column thickness of ~300 nm. The formation of an SR with a spectral width of 25 MHz, located on atomic transitions, is demonstrated. This is a record narrowing of the 670 MHz Doppler width by a factor of 27 using single-pass geometry. The SR signal reaches several percent of the intensity of its forming radiation, and the SR amplitude’s linear dependence is maintained up to 100 mW/cm 2 , which is almost two orders of magnitude greater than the saturation intensity of optical processes when using centimeter-long cells with atomic vapors. Such a high saturation intensity value is achieved by using the nanocell.
We discuss the properties of selective reflection spectroscopy at the interface between a resonant vapor and a complex dense medium, such as a metallic film layered on a dielectric substrate. We show that in the approximation of a low-density vapor, the signal mixes up the absorptive and dispersive components of the "effective resonant susceptibility" of the vapor, with the mixture amount governed by simple laws of linear optics. Preliminary experiments performed at the interface between Cs vapor (D2, 852-nm line) and a silver-coated glass window are reported, that show qualitatively the effect of the atom-surface van der Waals interaction.
Selective reflection spectroscopy at an interface with a low-density resonant vapor, especially when combined with a frequency modulation technique, is a high-resolution Doppler-free tool for probing atoms interacting with a surface. We analyze different types of relevant surface interaction, emphasizing the spectral consequences of a van der Waals surface attraction associated to a z−3z^{-3}z−3 potential dependence (zzz: distance to the wall). We present detailed results of two series of experiments at a Cs vapor/dielectric window interface on the 6S1/2_{1/2}1/2​-6P3/2_{3/2}3/2​ (λ=852\lambda = 852λ=852 nm) resonance line and on the 6S1/2_{1/2}1/2​-7P second resonance line (λ=455\lambda = 455λ=455 nm and 459 nm). Lineshape analysis at various pressures consistently shows that a van der Waals-type surface attraction has to be considered to interpret strong lineshape distortions and resonance shift. The attractive strengths are found to be equal respectively to ≈2\approx 2≈2 kHz μ\muμm3^33 and ≈20\approx 20≈20 kHz μ\muμm3^33, independently of the considered hyperfine component, within the experimental accuracy. It yields also typical parameters of pressure broadening and shift, which are shown to originate in collisional processes, at densities where the medium is opaque. Theoretical expectations for the VW strength are discussed on the basis of the results of atomic theory. The predicted values are smaller, by a typical factor of 2, than those deduced from the experiments. The validity of the theory, when applied to a dielectric interface, is discussed and seems questionable when the frequency of virtual atomic transitions involved in the van der Waals attraction potential lies in the dielectric window absorption range.
Nonlinear selective reflection from the interface YAG window-high density rubidium vapor in the high-temperature cell is studied at the transition 5S1/2_{1/2}1/2​-5P3/2_{3/2}3/2​. In the experiment tunable pump and probe lasers are used. The selective reflection spectra for the laser probe beam are investigated at four different rubidium atomic densities and five different pump beam intensities. The estimated dipole-dipole interaction-induced line broadening varies from 13.213.213.2 to 39.639.639.6 GHz, the measured pumped intensities change from 1.21.21.2 to 8.88.88.8 kW⋅\cdot⋅cm−2^{-2}−2. Growth of the pump intensity causes reduction of the magnitude and the width of the recorded selective reflection resonance. We suggest developing all-optical modulators on the basis of nonlinear selective reflection.
The effect of the van der Waals interaction of cesium atoms with the sapphire windows of a nanocell was experimentally investigated using the selective reflection process. The distance L between the windows varied in the range of 50–2000 nm and the nanocell was filled with the vapors of cesium atoms. For the Cs atoms (the transition 6 S 1/2 → 6 P 1/2 ), the C 3 coefficient of the van der Waals interaction with the sapphire windows of the nanocell is measured. It is shown that it is possible to determine the magnetic fields with the spatial resolution of 70 nm using the selective reflection spectrum and, consequently, both the homogeneous and highly gradient magnetic fields can be measured.