Influence of the collisional energy transfer between potassium and rubidium atoms
Shunyan Wang, Tao Peng, You Wang +5 more
Potassium (K) and rubidium (Rb) are two kinds of typical alkali atoms, which have the similar energy-level structures. In a mixture of potassium and rubidium, energy transfer among atoms is different from that in a simple sample of potassium or rubidium vapor. When potassium and rubidium mixed vapor is irradiated simultaneously by a potassium resonance doublet and a rubidium resonance doublet, energy transfer will be induced by inelastic collisions between the excited potassium atoms and the unexcited potassium atoms, the excited rubidium atoms and the unexcited rubidium atoms, the excited potassium atoms and the unexcited rubidium atoms, the unexcited potassium atoms and the excited rubidium atoms, the excited potassium atoms and the excited rubidium atoms, and etc. Two processes of energy transfer between two upper-state levels of atomic potassium or rubidium such as 42P3/2 → 42P1/2 and 52P3/2 → 52P1/2, are known as direct-relaxation. Four processes of energy transfer such as 42P1/2 → 52P1/2, 42P1/2 → 52P3/2, 42P3/2 → 52P1/2, and 42P3/2→ 52P3/2, are called as cross-relaxation. In this study, we evaluate quantitatively the effect of cross-relaxation on the population distribution of atomic potassium and rubidium as well as the output power of the complex potassium-rubidium lasing system. The results demonstrate four cross-relaxation rates are much smaller than two direct-relaxation rates so that the influence can be negligible under the given temperature conditions. The conclusion might be helpful to better understand the kinetic principle of collisional energy transfer of a complex lasing system with mixed alkali metal media.
AOPC: Advanced Laser Technology and Applications•Oct 28, 2025•0 citations