We have developed and tested an efficient mathematical model for calculating a coherent population trapping (CPT) resonance in a periodically modulated laser field when the modulation frequency
f is close to the fractional part of the hyperfine splitting frequency (HFS) in the ground state ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}}_{\mathrm{HFS}}/N$ (where
N=1,2,3,…). In such a polychromatic light, only two frequency components that are most resonant with the working optical transitions in the atom are taken into account exactly, while all other off-resonant frequency components are taken into account by using the second-order perturbation theory in the field magnitude. Within the framework of our concept, an equation for the atomic density matrix is obtained, in which all off-resonant frequency components are described by two operators (which are nondiagonal in the general case): a shift operator and a relaxation operator. This model has been verified by numerical calculations for various dependencies, in which we have not found visual differences from the results of exact calculations. Thus, in our bichromatic model, the infinite variety of periodically modulated fields in CPT spectroscopy can be uniformly described by only five parameters. In addition to a significant mathematical simplification, our model provides a clear physical picture of the various features of CPT spectroscopy in a periodically modulated laser field, including some effects that have not yet been discussed in the scientific literature. In particular, we show a widespread viewpoint that the CPT resonance shift is determined by standard ac Stark shifts of the lower levels is, in general, fundamentally incorrect, since the contribution to the light shift due to beats at the frequency ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}}_{\mathrm{HFS}}$ between different off-resonant frequency components can be comparable to the value of standard ac Stark shift (or even dominate it). Therefore, even if we have detailed information on the spectral composition of the modulated field (e.g., using a spectrum analyzer), this is, in general, absolutely insufficient for determining the light shift of the CPT resonance.
We have developed an effective mathematical model to calculate the coherent population trapping (CPT) resonance in periodically modulated light, when the modulation frequency
f varies near the fractional part of hyperfine splitting in the ground state
Δhfs/N (where
N=1,2,...). In such polychromatic field, only two frequency components that are most resonant with atomic optical transitions are taken into account accurately, while all other off-resonant components are taken into account using the second-order perturbation theory in the field. Within the presented concept, equation for atomic density matrix is obtained, in which the contribution of all off-resonant components is reduced to the appearance of two new operators (non-diagonal, in general case): the shift operator and relaxation operators. In the case of three-level
Λ-system, the adequacy of presented effective model was verified by numerical calculations of various dependencies, in which we did not find visual differences from the exact calculations. In addition to a significant mathematical simplification, our model provides a clear physical picture of various features of CPT spectroscopy in a periodically modulated laser field, including effects that have not been discussed in the scientific literature before. In particular, we show that the widespread viewpoint that the CPT resonance shift is determined by usual ac Stark shifts of the lower levels is, in general, fundamentally incorrect, since the contribution to the light shift due to beats at the frequency
Δhfs between different off-resonant frequency components can be comparable (or even dominate) with the standard ac Stark shift. Therefore, even if we have detailed information on the modulated field spectrum (e.g. using a spectrum analyzer), this is, in general, absolutely insufficient to determine the light shift of CPT resonance.
The present work presents a new method for enhancement of contrast of coherent population trapping resonance in Rb vapour based on feedback and fast digital processing of the error signal in the feedback loop. In the proposed method, when the frequency difference between the pump field components is detuned from the resonance of coherent population trapping, a linear combination of two measured values, — pump field power prior and after passing through the cell, — is stabilised. This parameter combination is stabilised through adjustment of the pump radiation power with an electrooptical amplitude modulator. The studied method is shown to improve CPT resonance contrast by more than two orders of magnitude, while also improving the signal-to-noise ratio more than two-fold. The possibilities and limitations of the proposed method for enhancement of CPT resonance contrast are analysed.
Abstract We develop a theory of modulation response of the coherent population trapping (CPT) resonance. We consider the simplest three-level atom, but take into account the polychromatic spectrum of the pumping and probing light produced by pure FM modulation of single frequency field. The analysis based on the density matrix equations rigorously includes the most important for applications range of modulation parameters where modulation frequency and deviation are comparable with or greater than the CPT linewidth, so the response of the atomic medium is not adiabatic. Some theoretical results, in particular the possibility of using a quadrature response to modulation to suppress light shift, are compared with the experiment carried out with a diode laser (VCSEL) and 87 Rb atoms.
A method of dynamic continuous-wave spectroscopy of coherent population trapping (CPT) resonances using phase modulation of the jump type is developed. The time evolution of the spectroscopic signal is investigated. A method for the formation of an error signal for frequency stabilization is proposed. We show that our approach has a reduced sensitivity to the line-shape asymmetry of the CPT resonance. The experimental results are in good qualitative agreement with theoretical predictions based on a mathematical model of a three-level $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}$ system in a bichromatic field. This method can be used in atomic frequency standards (including chip-scale atomic clocks).