Light Induced Kinetic Effects in Alkali Vapors

Boris Ya Zel'dovich, Igor I Sobel'man

Sergey Nikitich Atutov, V. Biancalana, Paola Bicchi +7 more

The light-induced desorption and diffusion of alkali-metal atoms in organic films are interesting fields of investigation. An impressive demonstration is given by the recently observed light-induced atomic desorption (LIAD) effect, where a huge alkali-metal atom desorption from siloxane films, previously exposed to atomic vapors, is induced by weak and nonresonant light. In this paper, experimental data and a one-dimensional theoretical model of the effect are presented. The model gives a good description of the vapor density dynamics by taking into account both the atomic diffusion inside the coating and the surface desorption. General equations are reported and discussed within the limits of experimental interest. The potential barrier at the vapor-surface interface and the activation energy for Rb in (poly)dimethylsiloxane have been determined.

David L. Moores

A. Hatakeyama

Light-induced atom desorption (LIAD) of alkali-metal atoms in alkali-metal vapor cells can be used to quickly increase the vapor density. It is particularly useful as a source for laser-cooled atoms. We review the studies of LIAD for alkali-metal atoms, with particular attention to its application to laser cooling experiments. We show clear differences in LIAD properties for quartz and Pyrex substrates, which are widely used materials in laser-cooling cells.

M. Allegrini

O. S. Mishina, Michael S. Scherman, Pietro Lombardi +6 more

Electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) has led to several quantum optics effects such as lasing without inversion or squeezed light generation. More recently quantum memories based on EIT have been experimentally implemented in different systems such as alkali metal atoms. In this system the excited state of the optical transition splits into several sublevels due to the hyperfine interaction. However, most of the theoretical models used to describe the experimental results are based on a Λ-system with only one excited state. In this article, we present a theoretical model for the Λ-type interaction of two light, fields and an atomic system with multiple excited state. In particular we show that if the control and probe fields are orthogonally circularly polarized the EIT effect in an alkali-metal vapor can almost disappears. We also identify the reasons of this reduction and propose a method to recover the transparency via velocity selective optical pumping.