Polarization of atomic line radiation

H. Hafner, Hans Kleinpoppen

Hans Kleinpoppen

Victor A. Kartoshkin, G. V. Klement’ev, V. D. Melnikov

M. A. Chaudhry, Hans Kleinpoppen

V N Glazov, M. E. Movsesyan, G. S. Sarkisyan

An experimental investigation was made of the interaction of ruby laser radiation with a vapor of thallium atoms. Several atomic lines in the infrared range were observed and investigated for the first time. These lines were due to multiphoton excitation of the thallium atoms. The dependences of the energies of the infrared emission lines on the intensity of the exciting laser radiation indicated that they appeared because of multiphoton ionization of the atoms. Nonresonant stimulated Raman scattering involving electronic transitions between the 6P1/2 and 6P3/2 levels in the thallium atom was observed and studied. The polarization of the infrared emission lines and of the Raman lines was investigated as a function of the polarization of the exciting laser radiation. The energy efficiency of infrared conversion was ~10−5 %.

A. Ellett, Paul D. Foote, Fred L. Mohler

Polarized radiation following electron impact.---If a unidirectional beam of electrons, of velocity slightly in excess of the resonance potential, is projected through a vapor at a very low pressure so that effects due to atomic collision and resonance radiation are negligible, and in the absence of an applied field and resulting Larmor precession, there is reason to suspect that the radiation emitted perpendicular to the electron beam should be partially polarized, especially for lines corresponding to $\ensuremath{\Delta}j=1$.Polarization in mercury and sodium vapor.---Experiment showed a polarization of about 30 percent for $\ensuremath{\lambda}2537$ with the greatest intensity of the electrical vibration having a direction perpendicular to the electron beam. No polarization was detected for the unresolved sodium D-lines, confirming the recent observation of Kossel and Gerthsen.Polarization in mercury with field of 3 gauss.---A field parallel to the electron beam produced no effect. With the field perpendicular to the beam the radiation along the field was unpolarized while that perpendicular to the field was reduced in polarization to 13 percent. These results suggest that the atom radiates with the same distribution of polarization and intensity as in zero field but with the atom rotated through an angle determined by the time of excitation and the precessional velocity.