Probing collision effects intheconfined environment ofananocell
Armenia
Abstract
Spectroscopy close toaninterface isappropriate toevaluate collisional effects, like pressure broadening and shifts, inanoptically opaquemedium, asoccurs atlarge atomic densities. Relatively tothevolumespectroscopy in comparable conditions, applicable onlyinthefarspectral wings, itprovides aninformation obtained close tothe resonance line-centre. However, itimplicitly assumes that thevicinity withthesurface hasnotmodified thecollisional features themselves. Thissupposes that theatomdynamics -i.e. thevelocity distribution andthepopulation distributionisidentical inthegasbulkandclose tothesurface, andthat soistheinteraction between anatomanditsperturber. To testsuchanassumption, we havestarted toinvestigate thecollisional effects innanocell spectroscopy [11, inthe elementary caseofaresonant transition. Indeed, therecentdevelopment ofnanocells ofatomic vapour, withthickness typically spanning from20to1000nm,offers aspectroscopic alternate tolong-time developed Selective Reflection (SR) spectroscopy ataninterface, withtheadditional possibility ofexploring avariable distance tothesurface. Presently, ourdetailed experiments, performed onthewell-resolved CsD1line(894nm),haveenabled a simultaneous comparison ofX/2andk/4thickness forvarious densities. Systematic experiments forshorter thickness areplanned forthenearfuture. Because nanocell spectroscopy, whenperformed under normal incidence irradiation, allows asub-Doppler resolution owing tothevelocity-selecti on