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Results in Physics

Observation on the absorption of linearly polarized light by 133Cs atoms with optically resolved hyperfine structure

Zhichao Ding, Jie Yuan

Published Apr 30, 2022• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

The absorption of linearly polarized light by 133Cs atoms is desired to be well known in many applications of atomic physics. For implementing this requirement, a simplified analytical form for the absorption of linearly polarized light by 133Cs atoms with optically resolved hyperfine structure is derived. Based on the obtained analytical form, optical absorption cross-sections of 133Cs atoms are simulated. An experiment is designed to further study the absorption of linearly polarized light by 133Cs atoms. Theory and experiment show that the influence of linearly polarized light on the distribution of 133Cs atoms will in turn affect the optical absorption. In order to demonstrate this kind of influence, an example for the measurement of the 133Cs vapor density is shown theoretically and experimentally, and a method of polynomial fit is proposed to reduce this influence.

DOI
10.1016/j.rinp.2022.105565

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The absorption of linearly polarized light by 133Cs atoms is desired to be well known in many applications of atomic physics. For implementing this requirement, a simplified analytical form for the absorption of linearly polarized light by 133Cs atoms with optically resolved hyperfine structure is derived. Based on the obtained analytical form, optical absorption cross-sections of 133Cs atoms are simulated. An experiment is designed to further study the absorption of linearly polarized light by 133Cs atoms. Theory and experiment show that the influence of linearly polarized light on the distribution of 133Cs atoms will in turn affect the optical absorption. In order to demonstrate this kind of influence, an example for the measurement of the 133Cs vapor density is shown theoretically and experimentally, and a method of polynomial fit is proposed to reduce this influence.
Abstract In order to obtain an understanding of the relationship between the optical absorption and the transverse relaxation, the influences of linearly polarized light respectively at 133Cs D1 and D2 lines on the transverse relaxation of ground-state 133Cs atoms are studied. Under different vapor temperatures, light intensities and light frequencies, transverse spin relaxation times are separately measured for 133Cs atoms in different hyperfine levels. For theoretically analyzing the measuring results, especially for an unusual trend that the transverse spin relaxation time rises with the increase of light intensity, photon absorption cross-sections of linearly polarized light by 133Cs atoms are simulated. The experimental results show that through influencing the optical absorption and spin-exchange collisions, the linearly polarized light plays a remarkable role in the transverse spin relaxation. The results obtained by this paper can provide a guide to find the optimal intensity and frequency of linearly polarized light in practical applications for decreasing the influences of linearly polarized light on the transverse relaxation.
The creation and detection of atomic polarization is examined theoretically through the study of basic optical-pumping mechanisms and absorption and fluorescence measurements and the dependence of these processes on the size of ground- and excited-state hyperfine splittings is determined. The consequences of this dependence are studied in more detail for the case of nonlinear magneto-optical rotation in the Faraday geometry (an effect requiring the creation and detection of rank-two polarization in the ground state) with alkali-metal atoms. Analytic formulas for the optical rotation signal under various experimental conditions are presented.
We have performed an analysis of the effect of hyperfine structure in an experiment in which an aligned excited state is probed using linearly polarized light. The state is born with a given electronic alignment resulting from a collisional process. It is probed after a time which is short in comparison to its radiative lifetime but much longer than ω−1hfs, where ℏωhfs is the hyperfine splitting. This means that hyperfine structure has ample time to ‘‘develop.’’ It is therefore essential to take into account both the hyperfine structure of the level and the manner in which the alignment is affected by recoupling to the new basis. Ratios of fluorescent intensities for different laser polarization configurations contain information on the alignment of the system. We show how these may be calculated for a system with several isotopes, some of which have hyperfine structure, and where many components are probed with appreciable strength. A comparison is made with our experimental results for the Hg(6 3P1) level probed on the 6 3P1–7 3S1 transition. The presence of hyperfine structure has a considerable influence on the measurements. It is important to understand such effects if one is to obtain information on the nascent electronic alignment by observation of the fluorescent intensities.
The evolution of the populations of the magnetic sublevels of the cesium atom (133Cs isotope) in resonant laser fields with linear polarization is analyzed using the equations for the density matrix. Analytic expressions are derived for stationary populations resulting from laser-induced optical transitions on the hyperfine structure components F g = 3 ↔ F e = 2, 3 and F f = 4 ↔ F e = 3, 4 of lines D1 (62S1/2 → 62P1/2) and D2 (62S1/2 → 62P3/2) depending on the initial values of the populations. The numerical solution of the evolution equations gives the characteristic times of stabilization of the steady regime as functions of laser field intensities and detuning from optical resonance. We determine the sequences of optical transitions increasing (by more than an order of magnitude) the population of the lower sublevel 62S1/2F g = 3 M = 0 of the “clock” microwave transition F g = 3 M = 0 ↔ F f = 4 M = 0 in the cesium frequency standard, which increases the signal intensity in the recording system by the same proportion.
The probability of a two-photon absorption (TPA) process is quantified by means of the TPA cross-section. In this work the TPA cross-section for the 6 S 1/2 → 8 S 1/2 transition in cesium (Cs) atoms is obtained from a theoretical and experimental approach. It is calculated using second order perturbation theory including hyperfine structure and Doppler broadening for a thermal atomic vapor. The theoretical values for the TPA cross-sections of the two allowed hyperfine transitions are σ ~ 3,3 =3.10×10 −24 cm 4 /W and σ ~ 4,4 =3.65×10 −24 cm 4 /W. An experiment is set up to measure these cross-sections based on the quadratic dependence between the TPA transition rate and the intensity of the laser light. Values of σ ~ 3,3 =(3.6±1.1)×10 −24 cm 4 /W and σ ~ 4,4 =(4.6±1.1)×10 −24 cm 4 /W are obtained from the measurements. The results show an agreement between theory and experiment. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that these cross-sections are reported.
Structured light, when strongly focused, generates highly confined vectorial electromagnetic field distributions, which may feature a polarization component along the optical axis. Manipulating and detecting such 3D light fields is challenging, as conventional optical elements and detectors do not interact with the axial polarization component. Vector light can, however, be mapped onto atomic polarizations, making electric dipole transitions an ideal candidate to sense such 3D light configurations. Working in the hyperfine Paschen–Back regime, where the electric dipole transitions are spectrally resolved, we demonstrate direct evidence of the axial polarization component of strongly focused radial light. We investigate the influence of various input polarization states, including radial, azimuthal, and higher-order optical vortices, on atomic absorption profiles. Our results confirm a clear mapping between the 3D vector light and the atomic transition strength. This work provides insights into vectorial light–matter interaction and opens avenues for quantum sensing applications.