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QUANTITATIVE SPECTROSCOPY OF Rb ATOMS IN STRONG MAGNETIC FIELD BASED ON SUBMICRON THIN VAPOUR.

G. Hakhumyan, David G. Sarkisyan, Claude Leroy, Y. Pashayan-Leroy, Marcis P. Auzinsh

Published Jul 5, 2010• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

The energy levels of atoms placed in an external magnetic field undergo frequency shifts and changes in their transition probabilities. It is demonstrated that using fluorescence spectra from a submicron thin vapour cell (STC) with the thickness L = λ/2, it is possible to efficiently study the above mentioned changes (“half-λ Zeeman technique” (HLZT)). The circularly polarized beam of extended-cavity diode laser (λ = 794 nm, laser bandwidth γL < 1 MHz) resonant with 87Rb D1 transition, after passing through Faraday isolator is directed onto the Rb STC with the thickness L = λ/2. The temperature of the STC is 120 °C, corresponding to N ~ 1013 atom/cm3. STC was provided by a special oven with 3 openings: 2 inlets for laser beam passage, and one orthogonal inlet for side fluorescence detection. This geometry allows simultaneous recording of fluorescence and transmission spectra. STC with the oven is placed between two strong permanent ring magnets and by changing the distance between them it is possible to form a strong magnetic field up to 4500 G. In [1], “λ-Zeeman technique” (LZT) is shown to be efficient to study individual transitions between the Zeeman sublevels of hyperfine levels in an external magnetic field up to 2400 G. LZT uses STC with thickness L = λ, where λ is 794 nm (780 nm) for D1 line (D2 line) of Rb. Narrow velocity selective optical pumping/saturation (VSOP) resonances in the transmission spectrum of the STC are split into several components in the magnetic field; their frequency positions and probabilities depend on the B-field. We present comparison of HLZT and LZT in a wide region of magnetic fields up to 4500 G. We present the fluorescence spectrum for L = λ/2 and the transmission spectrum for L = λ. The VSOP resonances in the LZT-curve are narrower meanwhile the advantage of HLZT is that the fluorescence appears on a flat background. Applications such as magnetometer with high spatial resolution and the theoretical model describing well the experiment will be presented.

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Recently unique extremely thin cells (ETC) containing atomic vapour of alkali metals with the column thickness L of an order and much less than optical light wavelength λ have been developed. It has been demonstrated that these ETC are a very promising tool for a fundamental study of atom-light, atom-atom, atom-surface and atom-external magnetic field interactions. Particularly, a dramatically different behaviour of resonant absorption, fluorescence and resonant magneto-optical processes compared to that obtained with the help of cm-long ordinary cells has been demonstrated. Possible applications based on ETC are described, such as magnetometers with nanometric spatial resolution and tunable atomic frequency references. For the study of buffer gas influence, a multi-region cell (MRC) has been developed. MRC consists of an ETC cell having a wedged thickness of the gap between the windows that allows one to form atomic vapour column thickness in the range of 0.1 ÷ 4 μm. The ETC is connected through a sapphire tube with a 1cm-long sapphire tube having sapphire windows. The 1cm-long cell has a sapphire side-arm containing Rb metal. MRC's are filled with 6 Torr and 20 Torr Neon gas, thus there is Rb vapour and buffer gas inside the MRC. The construction of the MRC allows one to compare absorption and fluorescence processes simultaneously in the case of the ETC use as well as in the case of 1cm-long ordinary cell use. The comparison of the resonant absorption and fluorescence in the extremely thin cell (ETC) filled with pure Rb with another one filled with Rb and Neon gas with the pressures of 6 Torr and 20 Torr is provided. The effect of the collapse and revival of Dicke-type narrowing is still observable for the thicknesses L = λ/2, and L = λ, with λ being the resonant laser wavelength 794 nm (D1 line of Rb), i.e. the spectra of the resonant absorption and fluorescence demonstrate strong sub-Doppler narrowing for the thickness L = λ/2 and broadening for the thickness L = λ. It is important to note that in an ordinary Rb cell with the thickness L in the range of 1mm - 10 cm filled with buffer gas, with the pressure higher than 1 Torr, in the well-known Saturation Absorption scheme, any sub-Doppler features are absent. For L = λ the so called velocity selective optical pumping/saturating resonance (VSOP) located at the atomic transition is still observable when Ne pressure is 6 Torr, while the linewidth is increased by 4 times in comparison with that obtained in a pure Rb ETC. It is also demonstrated that the use of the fluorescence spectra at L = λ/2 allows one to use ETC for the buffer gas pressure measurements. Comparison with the theory will be presented.

•Jul 5, 2010•0 citations
The energy levels of atoms placed in an external magnetic field undergo frequency shifts and changes in their transition probabilities. It is demonstrated that using fluorescence spectra from a submicron thin vapour cell (STC) with the thickness L = λ/2, it is possible to efficiently study the above mentioned changes (“half-λ Zeeman technique” (HLZT)). The circularly polarized beam of extended-cavity diode laser (λ = 794 nm, laser bandwidth γL < 1 MHz) resonant with 87Rb D1 transition, after passing through Faraday isolator is directed onto the Rb STC with the thickness L = λ/2. The temperature of the STC is 120 °C, corresponding to N ~ 1013 atom/cm3. STC was provided by a special oven with 3 openings: 2 inlets for laser beam passage, and one orthogonal inlet for side fluorescence detection. This geometry allows simultaneous recording of fluorescence and transmission spectra. STC with the oven is placed between two strong permanent ring magnets and by changing the distance between them it is possible to form a strong magnetic field up to 4500 G. In [1], “λ-Zeeman technique” (LZT) is shown to be efficient to study individual transitions between the Zeeman sublevels of hyperfine levels in an external magnetic field up to 2400 G. LZT uses STC with thickness L = λ, where λ is 794 nm (780 nm) for D1 line (D2 line) of Rb. Narrow velocity selective optical pumping/saturation (VSOP) resonances in the transmission spectrum of the STC are split into several components in the magnetic field; their frequency positions and probabilities depend on the B-field. We present comparison of HLZT and LZT in a wide region of magnetic fields up to 4500 G. We present the fluorescence spectrum for L = λ/2 and the transmission spectrum for L = λ. The VSOP resonances in the LZT-curve are narrower meanwhile the advantage of HLZT is that the fluorescence appears on a flat background. Applications such as magnetometer with high spatial resolution and the theoretical model describing well the experiment will be presented.
The so-called "λ/2-Zeeman technique" (HLZT) for studies of individual optical transition between Zeeman sublevels of atomic hyperfine structure in an external magnetic field of B = 10 - 2500 G is presented. Particularly, implementation of HLZT allows one to realize a direct determination of frequency shift and a strong modification of an optical transition probability between Zeeman components in a B-field. The main advantages of the method compared to "λ-Zeeman technique" (LZT) is that it allows one to study weak transitions. Particularly, with the help of fluorescence on 87Rb, D2 line, Fg = 1 → Fe = 3 transitions, three "forbidden" transitions in magnetic field B are detected and studied. Also, on 87Rb D1 line, Fg = 1, mF = 0 → Fe = 1, mF = 0 "forbidden" transition is detected when B ~ 400 G. A strong modification of the probability for these "forbidden" transitions is revealed. The theoretical model well describes the observed results.
An extremely thin cell with a wedge gap was developed that makes it possible to form a column of Rb atom vapor with thickness in the range from 100 to 600 nm. It is experimentally shown that the use of this cell, along with commercially available diode lasers, allows one to spectrally resolve individual transitions between the Zeeman sublevels of the hyperfine structure of the 87Rb D 1 line (transitions F g =1, 2→F e =1, 2) in the resonance fluorescence spectrum in the presence of an external magnetic field (B≈200 G). This makes it possible to realize systems consisting of nondegenerate atomic levels. For comparison, it is shown that transitions between the Zeeman sublevels in the fluorescence spectrum obtained with the aid of a conventional cell (1–10 cm long) in an external magnetic field with B∼200 G remain completely masked by the Doppler-broadened profile. The results obtained can be used for the creation of a simple magnetometer based on an extremely thin cell with Rb vapor for the measurement of magnetic fields with a submicron local spatial resolution.
We describe the so-called λ-Zeeman method to investigate individual hyperfine transitions between Zeeman sublevels of atoms in an external magnetic field of 0.1mT–0.25T. Atoms are confined in a nanocell with thickness L=λ, where λ is the resonant wavelength (794 or 780nm for D1 or D2 line, respectively, of Rb). Narrow resonances in the transmission spectrum of the nanocell are split into several components in a magnetic field; their frequency positions and transition probabilities depend on the B field. Possible applications are described, such as magnetometers with nanometric spatial resolution and tunable atomic frequency references.
It has been experimentally demonstrated that the use of the effect of significant narrowing of the fluorescence spectrum from a nanocell that contains a column of atomic Rb vapor with a thickness of L = 0.5λ (where λ = 794 nm is the wavelength of laser radiation, whose frequency is resonant with the atomic transition of the D 1 line of Rb) and the application of narrowband diode lasers allow the spectral separation and investigation of changes in probabilities of optical atomic transitions between levels of the hyperfine structure of the D 1 line of 87Rb and 85Rb atoms in external magnetic fields of 10–2500 Gs (for example, for one of transitions, the probability increases ∼17 times). Small column thicknesses (∼390 nm) allow the application of permanent magnets, which facilitates significantly the creation of strong magnetic fields. Experimental results are in a good agreement with the theoretical values. The advantages of this method over other existing methods are noted. The results obtained show that a magnetometer with a local spatial resolution of ∼390 nm can be created based on a nanocell with the column thickness L = 0.5λ. This result is important for mapping strongly inhomogeneous magnetic fields.
We describe the so-called "Lambda-Zeeman method" to investigate individual hyperfine transitions between Zeeman sublevels of atoms in an external magnetic field of 0.1 mT - 0.25 T. Atoms are confined in a nanocell with thickness L = Lambda, where Lambda is the resonant wavelength (794 nm or 780 nm for D1 or D2 line of Rb). Narrow resonances in the transmission spectrum of the nanocell are split into several components in a magnetic field; their frequency positions and probabilities depend on the B-field. Possible applications are described, such as magnetometers with nanometric spatial resolution and tunable atomic frequency references.
Recently unique extremely thin cells (ETC) containing atomic vapour of alkali metals with the column thickness L of an order and much less than optical light wavelength λ have been developed. It has been demonstrated that these ETC are a very promising tool for a fundamental study of atom-light, atom-atom, atom-surface and atom-external magnetic field interactions. Particularly, a dramatically different behaviour of resonant absorption, fluorescence and resonant magneto-optical processes compared to that obtained with the help of cm-long ordinary cells has been demonstrated. Possible applications based on ETC are described, such as magnetometers with nanometric spatial resolution and tunable atomic frequency references. For the study of buffer gas influence, a multi-region cell (MRC) has been developed. MRC consists of an ETC cell having a wedged thickness of the gap between the windows that allows one to form atomic vapour column thickness in the range of 0.1 ÷ 4 μm. The ETC is connected through a sapphire tube with a 1cm-long sapphire tube having sapphire windows. The 1cm-long cell has a sapphire side-arm containing Rb metal. MRC's are filled with 6 Torr and 20 Torr Neon gas, thus there is Rb vapour and buffer gas inside the MRC. The construction of the MRC allows one to compare absorption and fluorescence processes simultaneously in the case of the ETC use as well as in the case of 1cm-long ordinary cell use. The comparison of the resonant absorption and fluorescence in the extremely thin cell (ETC) filled with pure Rb with another one filled with Rb and Neon gas with the pressures of 6 Torr and 20 Torr is provided. The effect of the collapse and revival of Dicke-type narrowing is still observable for the thicknesses L = λ/2, and L = λ, with λ being the resonant laser wavelength 794 nm (D1 line of Rb), i.e. the spectra of the resonant absorption and fluorescence demonstrate strong sub-Doppler narrowing for the thickness L = λ/2 and broadening for the thickness L = λ. It is important to note that in an ordinary Rb cell with the thickness L in the range of 1mm - 10 cm filled with buffer gas, with the pressure higher than 1 Torr, in the well-known Saturation Absorption scheme, any sub-Doppler features are absent. For L = λ the so called velocity selective optical pumping/saturating resonance (VSOP) located at the atomic transition is still observable when Ne pressure is 6 Torr, while the linewidth is increased by 4 times in comparison with that obtained in a pure Rb ETC. It is also demonstrated that the use of the fluorescence spectra at L = λ/2 allows one to use ETC for the buffer gas pressure measurements. Comparison with the theory will be presented.