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Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics

Selective reflection of laser radiation from submicron layers of Rb and Cs atomic vapors: Applications in atomic spectroscopy

Emmanuel Klinger, Armen D. Sargsyan, Claude Leroy, David G. Sarkisyan

Published Oct 1, 2017• 7 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We studied selective reflection (SR) of laser radiation from a window of a nanocell with thickness L ~ λ 1,2 /2 filled with Rb and Cs atoms, where λ 1 = 780 nm and λ 2 = 852 nm are the wavelengths resonant with the D 2 laser lines for Rb and Cs, respectively. It is demonstrated that the negative derivative of the SR signal profile for L > λ /2 changes to the positive one for L < λ /2. It is shown that the real-time formation of the SR signal profile derivative (SRD) with the spectral width 30–40 MHz and located at the atomic transition is, in particular, a convenient frequency marker of D 2 transitions in Rb and Cs. The amplitudes of SRD signals are proportional to the atomic transition probabilities. A comparison with the known saturated absorption (SA) method demonstrated a number of advantages, such as the absence of cross-over resonances in the SRD spectrum, the simplicity of realization, a low required power, etc. An SRD frequency marker also operates in the presence of the Ne buffer gas at a pressure of 6 Torr, which allowed us to determine the Ne–Rb collisional broadening, whereas the SA method is already inapplicable at buffer gas pressures above 0.1 Torr. The realization simplicity makes the SRD method a convenient tool for atomic spectroscopy. Our theoretical model well describes the SRD signal.

DOI
10.1134/s1063776117090151

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arXiv:0711.1684•Laser Physics•Jun 1, 2008•30 citations
We studied selective reflection (SR) of laser radiation from a window of a nanocell with thickness L ~ λ 1,2 /2 filled with Rb and Cs atoms, where λ 1 = 780 nm and λ 2 = 852 nm are the wavelengths resonant with the D 2 laser lines for Rb and Cs, respectively. It is demonstrated that the negative derivative of the SR signal profile for L > λ /2 changes to the positive one for L < λ /2. It is shown that the real-time formation of the SR signal profile derivative (SRD) with the spectral width 30–40 MHz and located at the atomic transition is, in particular, a convenient frequency marker of D 2 transitions in Rb and Cs. The amplitudes of SRD signals are proportional to the atomic transition probabilities. A comparison with the known saturated absorption (SA) method demonstrated a number of advantages, such as the absence of cross-over resonances in the SRD spectrum, the simplicity of realization, a low required power, etc. An SRD frequency marker also operates in the presence of the Ne buffer gas at a pressure of 6 Torr, which allowed us to determine the Ne–Rb collisional broadening, whereas the SA method is already inapplicable at buffer gas pressures above 0.1 Torr. The realization simplicity makes the SRD method a convenient tool for atomic spectroscopy. Our theoretical model well describes the SRD signal.
The features of the effect of selective reflection from rubidium vapor in a nanocell with the thickness L ≈ λ/2 and L ≈ λ/4, where λ = 795 nm is the wavelength of laser radiation resonant with the Rb D 1 line, are studied. It is shown that, because of the behavior of the nanocell as a low-Q-factor Fabry–Pérot etalon, the sign of the derivative of the selective reflection spectra changes near L ≈ λ/2 from negative at L > λ/2 to positive at L < λ/2. The simplicity of the experimental implementation, large amplitude, and sub-Doppler width (40MHz) of a detected signal at an atomic transition frequency are appropriate for applications in metrology and magnetometry. In particular, selective reflection from the nanocell is a convenient frequency marker of atomic transitions; in this case, the amplitudes of peaks are proportional to the transition probabilities. The remote optical monitoring of a magnetic field with a spatial resolution L = λ/4 ≈ 199 of nm is possible on the basis of the splitting of selective reflection peaks in a strong magnetic field (up to 3 kG). A theoretical model describes well the experimental results.
On an example of the D 2 -line of the Rb atoms the work of the frequency reference of atomic transitions is demonstrated, based on the application of the spectrum of a selective reflectance (SR) from the boundary of atom vapors with the use of nano-cell (NC) with the thickness L ~ λ /2, where λ is the laser wavelength equal to 780 nm. When changing the thickness of the nano-cell near the thickness L ~ λ /2, we observe the inversion of sign of the SR slope profile which is positive when L < λ /2 and negative when L > λ /2. In the case when the incidence angle of the laser beam on the surface of the nano-cell is close to the normal, in real-time it is possible to form the derivative of the SR which represents a resonance peak with ~35 MHz spectral linewidth and located at the atomic transition. The phenomenon of oscillation of the sign of slope while changing the nano-cell thickness from L ~ λ /2 up to L ~ 3/2 λ is demonstrated. The practical application of the SR is noted.
Comparison of absorption and fluorescence in a nano-cell containing Rb vapor with other Rb nano-cells with addition of neon gas is presented. It is shown that the effect of collapse and revival of Dicke-type narrowing occurs for Rb nanocells containing N2 as buffer gas under 6 and 20 Torr pressure for the thickness L = λ /2 and L = where λ is the resonant λ, laser wavelength 794 nm (D1 line). Particularly for 6 Torr the line-width of the transmission spectrum for the thickness L =λ/2 is 2 times narrower than that for L = λ. For an ordinary Rb cell with L = 0.1 - 10 cm with addition of buffer gas, the velocity selective optical pumping/saturation (VSOP) resonances in saturated absorption spectra are fully suppressed when the buffer gas pressure > 0.5 Torr. A spectacular difference is that for L = λ, VSOP resonances located at the atomic transitions are still observable even when Ne pressure is ≥ 6 Torr. Narrowband fluorescence spectra of a nano-cell with L = λ/2 can be used as a convenient tool for online buffer gas pressure monitoring for the conditions when ordinary pressure gauges are unusable. Comparison of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) effect in a nano-cell filled with pure (without a buffer gas) Rb with another nano-cell, where buffer gas nitrogen is added, is presented. The use of N2 gas inside Rb nano-cells strongly extends the range of coupling laser detunings in which it is still possible to form EIT resonance.
Abstract The effect of selective reflection (SR) of laser radiation from the boundary of 87 Rb D 2 -line atomic vapors and a dielectric window was studied using a nanocell (NC) with a vapor column thickness of ~300 nm. The formation of an SR with a spectral width of 25 MHz, located on atomic transitions, is demonstrated. This is a record narrowing of the 670 MHz Doppler width by a factor of 27 using single-pass geometry. The SR signal reaches several percent of the intensity of its forming radiation, and the SR amplitude’s linear dependence is maintained up to 100 mW/cm 2 , which is almost two orders of magnitude greater than the saturation intensity of optical processes when using centimeter-long cells with atomic vapors. Such a high saturation intensity value is achieved by using the nanocell.
Abstract We demonstrate that a method using the derivative of the selective reflection (SR) signal from a nanocell is a convenient and robust tool for atomic laser spectroscopy, achieving a nearly Doppler-free spectral resolution. The recorded linewidth of the signal from a potassium-filled cell, whose thickness ℓ lies in the range 350–500 nm, is 18 times smaller than the Doppler linewidth (∼900 MHz full width at half maximum) of potassium atoms. We also show experimentally a sign oscillation of the reflected signal’s derivative with a periodicity of λ /2 when ℓ varies from 190 to 1200 nm confirming the theoretical prediction. We report the first measurement of the van der Waals atom-surface interaction coefficient C 3 = 1.9 ± 0.3 kHz × μ m 3 of potassium 4 S 1 / 2 → 4 P 3 / 2 transitions with the nanocell’s sapphire windows, demonstrating the usefulness and convenience of the derivative of SR technique for cell thicknesses in the range 60–120 nm.
It is demonstrated that the velocity-selective optical pumping/saturation resonances of the reduced absorption in a Rb vapor nanocell with thickness L = λ, 2λ, and 3λ (resonant wavelength λ = 780 nm) allow for the complete elimination of crossover (CO) resonances. We observe well-pronounced resonances corresponding to the F g = 3 → F e = 2, 3, and 4 hyperfine transitions of the 85Rb D2 line with line widths close to the natural width. A small CO resonance located midway between F g = 3 → F e = 3 and F g = 3 → F e = 4 transitions appears only for L ≥ 4λ. The D2 line (λ = 852 nm) in a Cs nanocell exhibits a similar behavior. From the amplitude ratio of the CO and VSOP resonances, it is possible to determine the thickness of the column of alkali vapor in the range of 1–1000 μm. The absence of the CO resonances for nanocells with L ∼ λ is attractive for the frequency reference application and for studying the transitions between the Zeeman sublevels in external magnetic fields.