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Resonance fluorescence and light scattering

R. Loudon

Published Sep 7, 2000• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract The basic components of a light-scattering experiment include a scattering region, with the atoms of interest illuminated by a parallel beam of light, and a detector that measures the scattered intensity at some finite angle to the direction of the incident beam. The scattering at small angles is usually difficult to resolve from the transmitted incident beam itself, and it is convenient in many experiments to measure the light scattered at right angles. In high-resolution studies, the atoms may be injected into the scattering region in the form of a beam in the third mutually perpendicular direction, to minimize the Doppler broadening of the scattered light.

DOI
10.1093/oso/9780198501770.003.0009

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Abstract The basic components of a light-scattering experiment include a scattering region, with the atoms of interest illuminated by a parallel beam of light, and a detector that measures the scattered intensity at some finite angle to the direction of the incident beam. The scattering at small angles is usually difficult to resolve from the transmitted incident beam itself, and it is convenient in many experiments to measure the light scattered at right angles. In high-resolution studies, the atoms may be injected into the scattering region in the form of a beam in the third mutually perpendicular direction, to minimize the Doppler broadening of the scattered light.
Abstract Resonance scattering techniques are very useful for high-resolution atomic spectroscopy. The applicability of these techniques has been much extended, particularly through the rapid development of tunable-laser technology. The use of a narrow-band tunable laser, acting on a collimated atomic beam, gives a direct method enabling, for example, hyperfine structure and isotope shift studies. The intensity of lasers allows stepwise excitations to be performed, and with the two-photon absorption technique, Doppler-free measurements on thermal gases are also possible. By using pulsed lasers, time-resolved measurements yielding radiative life-times and structural information can be performed. The basic resonance scattering methods can be combined with radiofrequency and coherence techniques to yield a resolution, limited only by the uncertainty relation. Optical double resonance and level-crossing techniques, not requiring a narrow-band light source, have been extensively used. Several examples of the application of resonance scattering methods are given.
A theory appropriate for investigating the angular spectra of atoms scattered out of an atomic beam by resonance fluorescence due to interactions with an orthogonal uniform light beam is presented. Particular emphasis is made on the scattering in the plane containing the two beams. The atomic distribution is shown to be intimately related to the angular distribution of the spontaneously emitted photons. Both distributions show marked variations with the detuning and field intensity parameters, leading to the possibility of maximum scattering of atoms to occur on either side of the atomic beam, while the accompanying photons are always emitted on one particular side of the light beam. Since the angular distributions reflect the momentum changes suffered by both the atoms and the electromagnetic field, this lends insight into the basic mechanisms involved in resonance fluorescence.
Analytic expressions are obtained for the spectrum of the light scattered when a collimated atomic beam is illuminated at right angles to its path by a CW monochromatic laser beam tuned to resonance with a two-level transition. The spectra vary depending on the portion of the interaction region from which the scattered light emanates. The spectrum of the light from a finite sub-region of the interaction volume is described as a function of the location and length of the sub-region, and of the intensity and frequency of the laser. Several interesting features related to the turn-on of the interaction as well as to the finite observation interval are found.
A treatment of resonance fluorescence is given in which the properties of the incident and scattered light are expressed in terms of coherency matrices. Calculations are made for two successive scattering processes corresponding to the experiments described in an accompanying paper. For the first process the scattering atoms are subjected to a magnetic field consisting of parallel static and oscillating components. The fluorescent light is frequency-modulated and may also be polarization-modulated. This light excites fluorescence in a second cell in which the atoms are subjected to a static magnetic field. The equations show under what conditions the second fluorescence is intensity-modulated and describe the resonances in the amplitude of modulation which occur when the modulation frequency matches a Zeeman interval of the excited atoms.
The spectrum of redistributed light that results from excitation by monochromatic near-resonant incident light has been observed in calcium perturbed by argon. The two components were found to be well described by the astrophysical redistribution functions RII{\mathit{R}}_{\mathrm{II}}RII​ and RIII{\mathit{R}}_{\mathrm{III}}RIII​ for the Rayleigh and fluorescent peaks, respectively. The Doppler width of the Rayleigh component was observed to be \ensuremath{\surd}2 larger than that of the fluorescent component, for our observation at right angle to the incident beam, clearly demonstrating the coherence of this part of the scattering. The ratio of fluorescent to Rayleigh intensity was independent of detuning within our range, which was well within the impact region, and increased linearly with argon pressure in a manner that is consistent with an identification of the cross section for redistributing collisions with that for line broadening.