Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE
Formation of narrow optical resonances using submillimeter and submicron-thin atomic vapor layer
David G. Sarkisyan, Armen D. Sargsyan, A. Papoyan, Y. Pashayan-Leroy
Abstract
Electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) resonance, along with peculiarities of the accompanying velocity selective optical pumping/saturation (VSOP) resonances, have been studied using a thin cell with the thickness of Rb vapor column varying in L = 10-700 &mgr;m range, as well as using an extremely thin cell (ETC) with the thickness varying in the range of radiation wavelength &lgr; = 780 nm (L = 0.5&lgr; - 2.5&lgr;). The &Lgr;-systems on D2 line of 85Rb and 87Rb have been studied experimentally with the use of bichromatic radiation of two separate diode lasers. It is demonstrated that size-conditioned strongly anisotropic contribution of atoms with different velocities in ETC results in several dramatic distinctions in formation of EIT and VSOP resonances in ETC, as compared with ordinary cm-size cell. The boundary between these two regimes falls on L ~ 10 &mgr;m. Theoretical model taking into account the peculiarities of the transmission spectra as a function of the ratio L/&lgr; is developed. The experimental transmission spectra are well described by the theoretical model.