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Atomic-vapor laser interaction

Priscila Mayana Torres Barboza

Published Jul 28, 2014• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

In this work we investigate the transmission in an optical cell containing an atomic vapor, when a laser is tuned to the wings of the Doppler line, presenting inhomogeneous broadening. The experiment is designed to detect the transmission of a laser beam through a an atomic cesium vapor within a quartz cell. Due to the high atomic density in the 1 mm cell, the laser beam is totally absorbed at resonance. On the other hand, when the detuning by few GHz from the center of the line an oscillatory signal is observed as a function of the laser frequency. The amplitude of the transmission signal varies linearly with the laser intensity. These oscillations exhibit diferent behavior as we change some parameters of the system, and the rate of the oscillations vary with laser detuning and on the atomic density. The phase of the transmited field is also sensitive to the angle of incidence of the laser beam in the cell, which allows to vary the lineshape of the signal without changing the parameters of the laser (intensity, frequency, ...) or atomic vapor. Out of resonance with the atomic vapor, the parallel windows of commercial optical cell cavity works as a low finesse Fabry-Pérot with a free spectral range of 150 GHz. However, in resonance, the optical path of the cavity changes varies with frequency due to the dispersive response of the atomic vapor. This study experimentally characterized the transmission signal through a cavity containing resonant vapor as a function of intensity and frequency of the laser, as well as its dependence on the angle of incidence of the beam. A numerical model that allows to determine the collisional broadening of the atomic vapor adjusting the spectral curves of the transmission signal was developed. As an application, exploring the oscillations in the wings of the resonance, we can lock the laser frequency at a few GHz off the center of the atomic resonance. The lock was performed in the frequency range between 0,8 GHz and 2,4 GHz from the center of the D2 line of cesium. To characterize the locking stability we measure the optical beat signal between two similar experiments, using the same locking technique.

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In this work we investigate the transmission in an optical cell containing an atomic vapor, when a laser is tuned to the wings of the Doppler line, presenting inhomogeneous broadening. The experiment is designed to detect the transmission of a laser beam through a an atomic cesium vapor within a quartz cell. Due to the high atomic density in the 1 mm cell, the laser beam is totally absorbed at resonance. On the other hand, when the detuning by few GHz from the center of the line an oscillatory signal is observed as a function of the laser frequency. The amplitude of the transmission signal varies linearly with the laser intensity. These oscillations exhibit diferent behavior as we change some parameters of the system, and the rate of the oscillations vary with laser detuning and on the atomic density. The phase of the transmited field is also sensitive to the angle of incidence of the laser beam in the cell, which allows to vary the lineshape of the signal without changing the parameters of the laser (intensity, frequency, ...) or atomic vapor. Out of resonance with the atomic vapor, the parallel windows of commercial optical cell cavity works as a low finesse Fabry-Pérot with a free spectral range of 150 GHz. However, in resonance, the optical path of the cavity changes varies with frequency due to the dispersive response of the atomic vapor. This study experimentally characterized the transmission signal through a cavity containing resonant vapor as a function of intensity and frequency of the laser, as well as its dependence on the angle of incidence of the beam. A numerical model that allows to determine the collisional broadening of the atomic vapor adjusting the spectral curves of the transmission signal was developed. As an application, exploring the oscillations in the wings of the resonance, we can lock the laser frequency at a few GHz off the center of the atomic resonance. The lock was performed in the frequency range between 0,8 GHz and 2,4 GHz from the center of the D2 line of cesium. To characterize the locking stability we measure the optical beat signal between two similar experiments, using the same locking technique.

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Optics Letters•Jun 15, 2001•16 citations
In this work we investigate the transmission in an optical cell containing an atomic vapor, when a laser is tuned to the wings of the Doppler line, presenting inhomogeneous broadening. The experiment is designed to detect the transmission of a laser beam through a an atomic cesium vapor within a quartz cell. Due to the high atomic density in the 1 mm cell, the laser beam is totally absorbed at resonance. On the other hand, when the detuning by few GHz from the center of the line an oscillatory signal is observed as a function of the laser frequency. The amplitude of the transmission signal varies linearly with the laser intensity. These oscillations exhibit diferent behavior as we change some parameters of the system, and the rate of the oscillations vary with laser detuning and on the atomic density. The phase of the transmited field is also sensitive to the angle of incidence of the laser beam in the cell, which allows to vary the lineshape of the signal without changing the parameters of the laser (intensity, frequency, ...) or atomic vapor. Out of resonance with the atomic vapor, the parallel windows of commercial optical cell cavity works as a low finesse Fabry-Pérot with a free spectral range of 150 GHz. However, in resonance, the optical path of the cavity changes varies with frequency due to the dispersive response of the atomic vapor. This study experimentally characterized the transmission signal through a cavity containing resonant vapor as a function of intensity and frequency of the laser, as well as its dependence on the angle of incidence of the beam. A numerical model that allows to determine the collisional broadening of the atomic vapor adjusting the spectral curves of the transmission signal was developed. As an application, exploring the oscillations in the wings of the resonance, we can lock the laser frequency at a few GHz off the center of the atomic resonance. The lock was performed in the frequency range between 0,8 GHz and 2,4 GHz from the center of the D2 line of cesium. To characterize the locking stability we measure the optical beat signal between two similar experiments, using the same locking technique.
In this work we investigate the transmission in an optical cell containing an atomic vapor, when a laser is tuned to the wings of the Doppler line, presenting inhomogeneous broadening. The experiment is designed to detect the transmission of a laser beam through a an atomic cesium vapor within a quartz cell. Due to the high atomic density in the 1 mm cell, the laser beam is totally absorbed at resonance. On the other hand, when the detuning by few GHz from the center of the line an oscillatory signal is observed as a function of the laser frequency. The amplitude of the transmission signal varies linearly with the laser intensity. These oscillations exhibit diferent behavior as we change some parameters of the system, and the rate of the oscillations vary with laser detuning and on the atomic density. The phase of the transmited field is also sensitive to the angle of incidence of the laser beam in the cell, which allows to vary the lineshape of the signal without changing the parameters of the laser (intensity, frequency, ...) or atomic vapor. Out of resonance with the atomic vapor, the parallel windows of commercial optical cell cavity works as a low finesse Fabry-Pérot with a free spectral range of 150 GHz. However, in resonance, the optical path of the cavity changes varies with frequency due to the dispersive response of the atomic vapor. This study experimentally characterized the transmission signal through a cavity containing resonant vapor as a function of intensity and frequency of the laser, as well as its dependence on the angle of incidence of the beam. A numerical model that allows to determine the collisional broadening of the atomic vapor adjusting the spectral curves of the transmission signal was developed. As an application, exploring the oscillations in the wings of the resonance, we can lock the laser frequency at a few GHz off the center of the atomic resonance. The lock was performed in the frequency range between 0,8 GHz and 2,4 GHz from the center of the D2 line of cesium. To characterize the locking stability we measure the optical beat signal between two similar experiments, using the same locking technique.
Utilizing the Zeeman Faraday effect in atomic vapor cells, a novel setup is introduced both for laser intensity stabilization and laser intensity modulation. The method is based on the closed loop control of the polarization rotation angle of the laser light in an atomic vapor cell for adjustment of the laser intensity. Characterizing the implemented setup, it is shown that more than 30 dB attenuation of the optical fluctuation is achieved in the frequency range from DC to 1 kHz. Meanwhile, the laser intensity could be efficiently locked to a modulating voltage signal, which results in amplitude modulation of the laser beam. We believe that this simple method could be effectively used in different atomic physics experiments, including the stabilization of the laser intensity in applications where near resonance frequency sweeping is required or applications that contain optical modulation of lasers in lock-in detection schemes.
The dynamics of a semiconductor laser with an intracavity atomic absorber is studied numerically. The study is motivated by the experiments of Barbosa et al. [Opt. Lett. 32, 1869 (2007)], using a semiconductor junction as an active medium, with its output face being antireflection coated, and a cell containing cesium vapor placed in a cavity that was closed by a diffraction grating (DG). The DG allowed scanning the lasing frequency across the D2{D}_{2}D2​ line in the Cs spectrum, and different regimes such as frequency bistability or dynamic instability were observed depending on the operating conditions. Here we propose a rate-equation model that takes into account the dispersive losses and the dispersive refractive index change in the laser cavity caused by the presence of the Cs vapor cell. These effects are described through a modification of the complex susceptibility. The numerical results are found to be in qualitative good agreement with some of the observations; however, some discrepancies are also noticed, which can be attributed to multi-longitudinal-mode emission in the experiments. The simulations clearly show the relevant role of the Lamb dips and crossover resonances, which arise on top of the Doppler-broadened D2{D}_{2}D2​ line in the Cs spectrum, and are due to the forward and backward intracavity fields interacting resonantly with the Cs atoms. When the laser frequency is locked in a dip, a reduction in the frequency noise and of the intensity noise is demonstrated.
Abstract Locking laser frequencies to Doppler-free spectra produced by the interaction of light with alkali atoms in a vapor cell is a promising approach for realizing compact atomic optical frequency reference. In this work, we employ counter-propagating monochromatic laser beams with a polarization angle of 45° to interact with 87 Rb atoms in a 3 mm cubic vapor cell, inducing coherent resonance. By detecting the laser polarization rotation, we obtain a Doppler free spectral line, which is used as a reference for laser frequency locking, thus realizing an optical reference. We build two nominally identical systems and measure their beatnote, yielding a fractional frequency stability of 5.3×10 -13 at 1 s. This study demonstrates that the proposed scheme is a competitive approach for realizing high performance compact atomic optical reference.
We report on the spectroscopy in a resonant vapor film, in a regime in which the inhomogeneous transit time induces a velocity selection. For cell thickness (10--1000 \ensuremath{\mu}m) smaller than the transverse dimensions and for low enough atomic density, the atomic trajectories are essentially free flights from wall to wall. Hence, a single laser beam irradiation is sufficient to observe sub-Doppler resonances because of the transient atomic response, which enhances the response of the slowest atoms flying nearly parallel to the wall. The peculiar features of this velocity selection are presented in the linear regime as well as in the case of saturation induced by the optical pumping. Also, we report, in the case of the Cs D2{D}_{2}D2​ line (852 nm), on the passage from a two-level linear-response regime to an optical pumping regime when increasing the incident intensity. We also describe the influence of several other parameters, including cell thickness and laser beam size and shape, on the experimental line shapes. An extension to Doppler-free polarization spectroscopy in a thin cell with a single beam, and to saturated absorption, is also reported.
We report on oscillating complex noise spectra obtained when a diode-laser beam passes through a resonant dense Doppler-broadened cesium-vapor cell. Atomic coherence converts the laser phase noise into amplitude noise in the transmitted beam. We have found that the level of amplitude noise is orders of magnitude above the intrinsic laser noise. As a function of laser detuning, this noise extends over several inhomogeneous widths, depending on the spectral frequency. Numerical calculations based on a simple theory remarkably mimic the details of the experimental noise spectra.