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Journal of the Optical Society of America B

Phase and amplitude variations of optically induced spin transients

Martin Rosatzin, Dieter Suter, Wulfhard K. Lange, J. Mlynek

Published Jul 1, 1990• 15 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We report detailed studies of freely evolving Zeeman coherence (Zeeman quantum beats) observed after optically pumping a gas of Na atoms and suddenly turning off the light field. This Zeeman coherence corresponds to a macroscopic magnetization that precesses in an external magnetic field; it is detected with a cw optical probe beam by using polarization-selective detection of the transmitted light. The amplitude and the phase of the signal show a pronounced variation with laser intensity, laser detuning, and the strength of the magnetic field. This dependence was measured on the 3s2S1/2 ground state of sodium, using the D1 line for optical excitation and detection. The experimental data are compared with theoretical predictions based on a Bloch-type equation of motion for an optically driven spin system in a J = 1/2 ground state.

DOI
10.1364/josab.7.001231

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We report detailed studies of freely evolving Zeeman coherence (Zeeman quantum beats) observed after optically pumping a gas of Na atoms and suddenly turning off the light field. This Zeeman coherence corresponds to a macroscopic magnetization that precesses in an external magnetic field; it is detected with a cw optical probe beam by using polarization-selective detection of the transmitted light. The amplitude and the phase of the signal show a pronounced variation with laser intensity, laser detuning, and the strength of the magnetic field. This dependence was measured on the 3s2S1/2 ground state of sodium, using the D1 line for optical excitation and detection. The experimental data are compared with theoretical predictions based on a Bloch-type equation of motion for an optically driven spin system in a J = 1/2 ground state.
We report detailed studies of the dynamic response of spin coherence to a step input of optically resonant narrow-band laser radiation in the presence of a static transverse magnetic field. The evolution of the spins is observed with a cw optical probe beam using polarization-selective detection of the transmitted light. In extension of previous optical-pumping experiments, the dynamics of the system are studied systematically as a function of optical-resonance detuning and intensity. Our experiments are performed on the 3s 2S1/2^{2}S_{1/2}2S1/2​ ground state of sodium, using the D1{D}_{1}D1​ line for optical excitation. The experimental data are compared with theoretical predictions based on a Bloch-type equation of motion for an optically driven spin system in a J=(1/2 ground state.
Optically induced Zeeman coherences between various pairs of sublevels in the ground state 4 A 2 of a sample ruby (0.05 wt.%) were observed at room temperature by using impact excitation with circularly polarized resonant light pulses from a mode-locked ruby laser. The precessing magnetization associated with Zeeman coherence was detected magnetically in UHF, VHF and X-band microwave regions. The observed signals can be regarded as various types of ESR free induction decay signals and the decay times were of the order of nanosecond. Sustained precession signals were also observed. Characteristics of the signals were explained by numerical solutions of the Liouville equation.
A general theory of laser-induced quantum beats introduced in paper I is extended to include the effects of sequential laser excitation by several lasers for atomic systems either free or subjected to external static fields. A detailed study is made of the dependence of the quantum beat signal on the polarizations of the exciting laser pulses and detected spontaneous emission. The theory is applied to the echelon excitation of sodium nD\mathrm{nD}nD Rydberg states. An analysis of the Zeeman beats produced by excitation in an external magnetic field suggests new ways to measure the fine-structure interaction constant of the Rydberg levels.
Na atoms in the magnetic field have been selectively excited to each Zeeman sub-level of either the 3p2P1/2 or 3p 2P3/2 state by a tunable dye laser and the Zeeman spectra of the fluorescence from the collisional populated 3p 2P levels have been measured. From the intensities of the Zeeman lines, the selectivity in the collisional transitions between the Zeeman sub-levels of the 3p 2P1/2 and 3p 2P3/2 states has been directly specified. The time evolution of the σ-polarized fluorescence intensity of the Na(3p 2P1/2→ 3s 2S1/2) transition has been measured following the Na(3p 2P3/2â†� 3s 2S1/2) excitation by a σ-polarized short light pulse at H= 129 G. An amplitude modulation was found in the fluorescence from the collisional energy transferred state Na(3p 2P1/2). This is the first observation of quantum beats in collision-induced fluorescence. The frequency of the modulation coincides very well with that of the quantum beats of the resonance fluorescence Na(3p 2P3/2→ 3s 2S1/2), but the phases are opposite. These results are explained by assuming the conservation of coherence during collisional energy transfer.
Cs and Rb atomic vapors have been optically pumped in their ground states. The optical/rf-field configuration used allowed for the optical detection of magnetic resonance spectra with subkilohertz resolution by a pump–probe beam technique, in which the free-precessional motion of spins is recorded in the time domain. A six-level system serves as a model to describe the dependence of the observed spectra on the optical frequencies involved. With an intense laser beam applied during the free-precession period, Zeeman light-shift effects are observed. The spatial electric-field distribution of the laser beams and particle diffusion have to be taken into account to let us explain the observed magnetic resonance line shapes adequately.
We describe optically pumping a beam of sodium atoms to >96% mS and >92% mS, mI state selection. (We have accurately measured the population of every mS, mI state in the optically pumped beam.) For the optical pumping both ground hyperfine states are pumped, using single-mode cw dye-laser radiation tuned to the 3S1/2–3P1/2 transition that is phase modulated in a LiTaO3 crystal to produce first-order sidebands at approximately the 1772-MHz hyperfine splitting of the ground state. The z-directed optical pumping is performed in a z-directed magnetic field of ~5 G. The state-selected atoms then move, in ~1 cm, into an ~200 G, z-directed field. The downstream probe laser beam is scanned through the 3S1/2 (mS, mI) → 3P3/2 (mS′, mI) transitions, which are spectroscopically resolved at 200 G, and the fluorescence intensities portray the residual populations in each of the eight 3S1/2 states.