Journal de Physique II

Magneto-rotation and magnetic circular dichroism of cesium atoms near a dielectric surface

Antoine Weis, Vladimir A. Sautenkov, Theodor W. Hänsch

Published Mar 1, 1993• 12 citations

Abstract

The magneto-optical properties of cesium vapor near a glass surface have been studied by using selective reflection. We have observed sub-Doppler structures in the magneto-rotation and magnetic circular dichroism spectra. The spectral narrowing can be explained by the transient polarization behavior of cesium atoms due to wall collisions. A simple model, which takes atom-wall collisions and the mixing of hyperfine levels by the magnetic field into account, gives a good qualitative description of the observed spectra. Small discrepancies are likely to be due to long-range atom-surface interactions.

DOI: 10.1051/jp2:1993128

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Journal de Physique II

Magneto-rotation and magnetic circular dichroism of cesium atoms near a dielectric surface

Antoine Weis, Vladimir A. Sautenkov, Theodor W. Hänsch

Published Mar 1, 1993• 12 citations

Publisher

Abstract

DOI: 10.1051/jp2:1993128

Related papers

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Physical Review AJun 1, 199236 citations

6{S}_{1∕2},F=3,{m}_{F}=0

6{S}_{1∕2},F=3,{m}_{F}=3

state by optically pumping atoms trapped in a magneto-optical trap. We use the

D1

resonance with large lower and upper state hyperfine splittings as a probe transition to avoid hyperfine mixing from the Zeeman interaction. Under this idealized situation we measure the Stokes parameters in order to find the polarization rotation and circular dichroism experienced by the probe light. We find that there are qualitative differences between the results for the

{m}_{F}=0

and

{m}_{F}=3

cases. While dispersion and consequent Faraday rotation play a dominant role when the atoms are in the

{m}_{F}=0

state, it is dissipation and circular dichroism that are important when they are in the

{m}_{F}=3

state. Similarly, while the size of the Faraday rotation and the circular dichroism for the

{m}_{F}=0

case scales linearly with the applied magnetic field, for the

{m}_{F}=3

case it is the shift of the probe polarization change versus frequency that is linearly proportional to the magnetic field strength.

We have measured magneto-optical signals obtained by exciting the

{D}_{1}

line of cesium atoms confined to an extremely thin cell (ETC), whose walls are separated by less than $1\ensuremath{\mu}\text{m}$, and developed an improved theoretical model to describe these signals with experimental precision. The theoretical model was based on the optical Bloch equations and included all neighboring hyperfine transitions, the mixing of the magnetic sublevels in an external magnetic field, and the Doppler effect, as in previous studies. However, in order to model the extreme conditions in the ETC more realistically, the model was extended to include a unified treatment of transit relaxation and wall collisions with relaxation rates that were obtained directly from the thermal velocities of the atoms and the length scales involved. Furthermore, the interactions of the atoms with different regions of the laser beam were modeled separately to account for the varying laser beam intensity over the beam profile as well as saturation effects that become important near the center of the beam at the relatively high laser intensities used during the experiments in order to obtain measurable signals. The model described the experimentally measured signals for laser intensities for magnetic fields up to 55 G and laser intensities up to

1{\text{W/cm}}^{2}

with excellent agreement.

{\mathit{D}}_{2}

line and detected through the magnetorotation of the plane of polarization of the reflected beam. The coherence effect appears as a dispersive shaped resonance of subnatural width. The dependence of the width on the intensity of the optical field shows a saturation behavior. For vanishing light intensity and cesium vapor pressure the linewidth is limited by transverse time-of-flight broadening, whereas its pressure dependence indicates an additional contribution from the finite longitudinal interaction time.