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Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics

Magnetic bistability of a single atom

Harald Schadwinkel, V. Gomer, Dieter Meschede

Published Aug 29, 2005• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Summary form only given. Photon antibunching is a prime example of quantum fluctuations of the electrodynamic field of resonance fluorescence. In the entangled atom-photon system it is complementally accompanied by transient atomic Rabi oscillations. Polarization resolved resonance fluorescence reveals an analogous phenomenon which can be interpreted as magnetic bistability at the microscopic level. We have subjected a single trapped Cs atom to a 3d-/spl sigma//sup +//spl sigma//sup -/-light field with local linear polarization. An atom in steady state at rest has vanishing magnetization, (m)=0. The observation of very strong anticorrelations for left/right handed photons with a contrast up to 62% and relaxation times of several /spl mu/s can be interpreted as a bistable, spontaneous formation of magnetization in the atom. The detection of the first photon causes projection onto a new state with (m)>0 which creates an unbalanced coupling to the circularly polarized components forming the linearly polarized field. Subsequently the atom is preferentially pumped into a stable stretched m-state. Unidirectional sequential photon absorption is responsible for acceleration (heating), while motion induced optical pumping causes a redistribution of Zeeman sublevels. Relaxation times are compatible with temperatures describing the time scale of atomic motion over a wavelength.

DOI
10.1109/iqec.2000.907924

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Summary form only given. Photon antibunching is a prime example of quantum fluctuations of the electrodynamic field of resonance fluorescence. In the entangled atom-photon system it is complementally accompanied by transient atomic Rabi oscillations. Polarization resolved resonance fluorescence reveals an analogous phenomenon which can be interpreted as magnetic bistability at the microscopic level. We have subjected a single trapped Cs atom to a 3d-/spl sigma//sup +//spl sigma//sup -/-light field with local linear polarization. An atom in steady state at rest has vanishing magnetization, (m)=0. The observation of very strong anticorrelations for left/right handed photons with a contrast up to 62% and relaxation times of several /spl mu/s can be interpreted as a bistable, spontaneous formation of magnetization in the atom. The detection of the first photon causes projection onto a new state with (m)>0 which creates an unbalanced coupling to the circularly polarized components forming the linearly polarized field. Subsequently the atom is preferentially pumped into a stable stretched m-state. Unidirectional sequential photon absorption is responsible for acceleration (heating), while motion induced optical pumping causes a redistribution of Zeeman sublevels. Relaxation times are compatible with temperatures describing the time scale of atomic motion over a wavelength.
Isolation of a single atomic particle and monitoring its resonance fluorescence is a powerful tool for studies of quantum effects in radiation-matter interactions. We present observations of quantum dynamics of an isolated neutral atom stored in a magneto-optical trap. By means of photon correlations in the atom's resonance fluorescence we demonstrate the well-known phenomenon of photon antibunching which corresponds to transient Rabi oscillations in the atom. Through polarization-sensitive photon correlations, we show a novel example of resolved quantum fluctuations: spontaneous magnetic orientation of an atom. These effects can only be observed with a single atom.
Optical pumping between ground-state Zeeman sublevels recently has attracted much attention as a nonlinear mechanism in optical bistability and tristability, under both steady-state1 and transient conditions.2 If, in addition to optical feedback, the Zeeman-pumped atoms are subjected to a transverse static magnetic field, new phenomena are known to arise,2–5 the most prominent among them being the self-sustained spin precession.4,5 We report on new results and systematic studies on the various types of magnetically induced optical multistabilities in a sodium-filled Fabry-Perot resonator.
It is shown that a simple system without a cavity exhibits optical bistability with no hysteresis but with symmetry-breaking or pitchfork bifurcation. The optical system is composed of a cell containing atoms with spin in the ground state, a $\frac{\ensuremath{\lambda}}{8}$ plate and a mirror, and an incident light beam linearly polarized and nearly resonant with the atomic absorption line. The system has a positive-feedback loop for the rotation of polarization through competitive optical pumping by ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}}$ circularly polarized components. When the intensity of the incident light exceeds a critical value, symmetry breaking occurs and its polarization is subject to rotation in the clockwise or anticlockwise sense. Correspondingly, atomic spin polarization is produced spontaneously in a direction parallel or antiparallel to the incident beam. This new type of optical bistability is found to be explained well in context with the cusp catastrophe, as well as the ordinary one with hysteresis. It is also found that, in the presence of a transverse magnetic field, self-sustained spin precession occurs, which results in the steady-state modulation of the light polarization at about the Larmor frequency. Experimental evidence of the symmetry breaking and pitchfork bifurcation is obtained by using sodium vapor.
Abstract The splitting of magnetic resonance induced by a frequency modulated linearly polarized light field is presented for Hanle experimental configuration. The experiment is carried out with thermal Rubidium atoms in an anti-relaxation coated glass cell. The observed splitting corresponds to steady-state behaviour of the system over an integrated time scale that is longer than the modulation frequency. The splitting is only observed for dark resonances, with left and right circularly polarized light simultaneously coupled to the atomic system. The split components are separated by half of the modulation frequency with the central component lying at zero-magnetic field. The absence of odd split components at single photon resonance is consistent with the theoretical calculation. The different components of the split profile have distinct response to the direction of the transverse magnetic field. The response is captured by the theoretical calculation and the underlying physical mechanism is discussed. These studies will be useful in metrology and advancement of vector atomic magnetometer.
The phenomenon of optical bistability is usually treated within the framework of a single optical mode interacting with a two-level system. Recently, a number of authors1-5 have considered the two-mode case where the mode coupling gives rise to new interesting features such as optical tristability.2 In a specific case of particular interest, the coupling between orthogonally circular polarized modes arises from a two-photon resonance of the Zeeman sublevels.2,5 Bistability or tristability is then observed in the polarization characteristics of a single optical beam. Although Zeeman coherence effects are expected to play an important role, these have usually been neglected in a theoretical description of polarization bistability.2,4
Results of a fairly straightforward experiment on resonant magneto-optical rotation by rubidium-87 atoms revealed strong time-dependence of the polarization plane of light emerging from atomic vapors following a sudden irradiation with a laser beam. The rotation of the plane appears as a not direct consequence of the influence of the magnetic field on atoms. Reported measurements conducted using a vapor cell without any buffer gas or an anti-relaxation wall coating show that transmitted light has initially the same (linear) polarization as the incident one. Rotation of the polarization plane caused by an axial magnetic field develops in time scales similar to the pace of establishing the optical pumping/relaxation equilibrium in the atomic ensemble. The traditional passive Faraday rotation picture providing working description for the resonant magneto-optical effects in steady-state conditions does not explain the observed sequence of evolution of the polarization. The picture has to be augmented with analysis of time dependence in the spatial distribution of relevant quantum states within the atomic ensemble as well as longitudinal and transversal intensity profiles of the light beam. Isolation of external effects caused by the optical pumping and relaxation processes from consequences of internal atomic coherences should uncover more details of mechanisms of the latter in the presence of magnetic field. Plentitude of data available from time-dependent polarization measurements provides strong incentives for further development and tests of comprehensive models of coherent interactions of atomic ensembles with radiation and possibly a base for additional advance in understanding and applications of these phenomena.