Transmission sub-Doppler spectroscopy with confined atomic vapor film between two dielectric walls is theoretically studied. Because of atoms flying from wall to wall, where they get de-excited, the atom-field interaction time is anisotropic so that the contribution of slow atoms is enhanced, a sub-Doppler transmission spectroscopy (Dicke narrowing effect) can be obtained when the thickness of the film is much small or comparable with the wavelength even at small angle oblique incidence. It is feasible to get a sub-Doppler structure in a new region (L < ?/4) in experiments.
Transmission sub-Doppler spectroscopy with confined atomic vapor film between two dielectric walls is theoretically studied. Because of atoms flying from wall to wall, where they get de-excited, the atomfield interaction time is anisotropic so that the contribution of slow atoms is enhanced, a sub-Doppler transmission spectroscopy (Dicke narrowing effect) can be obtained when the thickness of the film is much small or comparable with the wavelength even at small angle oblique incidence. It is feasible to get a sub-Doppler structure in a new region (L ＜λ/4) in experiments.
One-photon Dick-narrowing absorption spectroscopy from a thin atomic vapor film can be extended to the two-photon case, in which the sub-Doppler absorption structures are obtained in a cascade three-level system. The periodic line shapes of two photon spectroscopy are similar to one-photon case. It is found that Dicke-narrowing is apparent when L/λ=(2n+1)/2 (n an integer, L the film thickness, and λ the wavelength of the probe field)in the case of one-photon process, and this feature is maintained in the case of two-photon process but not in the one-photon process when L/λ=2n/2. Due to the contribution of atom-wall collision in the cell and the pump-probe scheme, a very narrow structure can be obtained when the pump and the probe fields are in counter-propagation regime.
The atomic response to resonant light irradiation near vapor-dielectric interfaces is monitored via high-resolution reflection spectroscopy. One demonstrates that this Doppler-free spectroscopic technique yields a novel probe of atomic dynamics and QED atom-surface long- range interaction. It provides for the first time a spectral evidence of van der Waals attraction, and the method is intrinsically applicable to the observation of surface interaction exerted on excited atoms. Effects related with atomic excitation level, nature of the dielectrics, and atomic collisions are discussed.
Single light beam transmission spectroscopy in an ultrathin dilute vapor cell (10--100 \ensuremath{\mu}m) reveals sub-Doppler features. Indeed, atoms with fast (normal) velocity undergo a short interaction between the cell walls, and are shown to be less absorbing because they have not reached their steady state of interaction with light. The effect is observed in the linear-response regime with a simple two-level system, as ensured from the ultralow level of light irradiation ($<~1\ensuremath{\mu}{\mathrm{W}/\mathrm{c}\mathrm{m}}^{2}$ for the Cs
D2 line). The effect, known for a long time in the microwave domain, is demonstrated here in the optical domain, and is extended to cell thicknesses large relative to the optical wavelength.
Selective reflection spectroscopy at an interface with a low-density resonant vapor, especially when combined with a frequency modulation technique, is a high-resolution Doppler-free tool for probing atoms interacting with a surface. We analyze different types of relevant surface interaction, emphasizing the spectral consequences of a van der Waals surface attraction associated to a
z−3 potential dependence (
z: distance to the wall). We present detailed results of two series of experiments at a Cs vapor/dielectric window interface on the 6S
1/2-6P
3/2 (
λ=852 nm) resonance line and on the 6S
1/2-7P second resonance line (
λ=455 nm and 459 nm). Lineshape analysis at various pressures consistently shows that a van der Waals-type surface attraction has to be considered to interpret strong lineshape distortions and resonance shift. The attractive strengths are found to be equal respectively to
≈2 kHz
μm
3 and
≈20 kHz
μm
3, independently of the considered hyperfine component, within the experimental accuracy. It yields also typical parameters of pressure broadening and shift, which are shown to originate in collisional processes, at densities where the medium is opaque. Theoretical expectations for the VW strength are discussed on the basis of the results of atomic theory. The predicted values are smaller, by a typical factor of 2, than those deduced from the experiments. The validity of the theory, when applied to a dielectric interface, is discussed and seems questionable when the frequency of virtual atomic transitions involved in the van der Waals attraction potential lies in the dielectric window absorption range.