We report observation of high contrast Raman Ramsey fringes in atomic vapor medium using time delayed optical pulse pairs. The width of these fringes are not limited by saturation and can be used to produce narrow resonance for clock applications.
The linewidth of CPT atomic resonances observed in a vapor cell are usually limited by optical saturation and collisions due to buffer gas. We have applied here the Ramsey method with optical CPT pulses generated by a phase-locked device. Fringes are then produced giving narrow atomic signals only dependent on interrogation time between the two pulses. The possibility to obtain narrow fringe widths below 100 Hz with short or long pulses is shown experimentally and analysed using the classical Schrodinger state representation.
Raman-Ramsey interference has proved a very effective technique to implement compact and high performing vapor cell frequency standards. In this paper, we theoretically characterize Raman-Ramsey resonances in an optically thick atomic vapor. Specifically, some parameters of interest for frequency standards applications, like contrast and linewidth of the central Raman-Ramsey fringe, are evaluated at different temperatures for 133Cs and 87Rb vapor cells with buffer gas. Density narrowing and broadening effects are described and explained in terms of a three-level theory where laser field propagation through the atomic medium is taken into account. Also, we investigate light shift both in low and high atomic density regimes. Light shift, which potentially degrades the medium- to long-term stability of Raman-Ramsey clocks, is composed of two contributions. The first is a pulling effect exerted by the wide Rabi profile enclosing the interference pattern on the central Raman-Ramsey fringe. The second light-shift term is strictly related to the detection time. Calculations derived from our model well describe already existing experimental results and new behaviors are predicted.
We report the observation of Raman-Ramsey fringes using a double lambda scheme creating coherent population trapping in an atomic ensemble combined with pulsed optical radiations. The observation was made in a Cs vapor mixed with N2 buffer gas in a closed cell. The double lambda scheme is created with lin perpendicular lin polarized laser beams leading to higher contrast than the usual simple lambda scheme. The pulsed trapping technique leads to narrow fringe widths scaling as 1/(2T) with high contrasts which are no longer limited by the saturation effect. This technique operates in a different way from the classical Ramsey sequence: the signal is done by applying a long trapping pulse to prepare the atomic state superposition, and fringe detection is accomplished by optical transmission during a short second trapping pulse without any perturbation of the dark state.
The Ramsey method has been applied by means of optical coherent population trapping (CPT) pulses through a cesium vapor cell with N/sub 2/ buffer gas at room temperature, using two phase-locked lasers. With this method, CPT resonance spectral widths are no longer limited by optical saturation and collision effects, but only depend on free evolution time between the two pulses. A fringe width below 100 Hz is reported. Experimental Raman-Ramsey fringes are analyzed using the classical wavefunction formalism.
Pulsed coherent population trapping in atomic vapor provides a convenient method for generating frequency narrowed atomic resonance using Ramsey interference. Here, we present our experimental results showing high-contrast and sub-kilohertz Ramsey interference fringes produced by coherently prepared 85Rb atoms using Raman excitation formed in D1 line transitions. A test system for atomic clock has been constructed to measure light shift for both continuous and pulsed Raman excitation cases. Our measurements show that light shift measured using pulsed Raman excitation, is reduced compared to the continuous excitation case. Our ability to measure light shift is currently limited by the resolution of the frequency counter, and performance of the locking electronics used.