On the possibilities of sub-Doppler atomic spectroscopy in multilayer gas cells

Possibilities of high-resolution spectroscopy of atoms (or molecules) for optical pumping and probing with the use of a proposed cell with a series of plane-parallel thin gas layers between spatially separated regions of this cell are theoretically studied. It is shown that efficient velocity selection of optically pumped atoms is possible in view of their characteristic transit and collisional relaxation in such a cell, which leads to the formation of narrow sub-Doppler resonances in absorption of a probe monochromatic wave. The resolution of this spectroscopic method is analyzed in the cases of stationary and definite nonstationary optical pumping of atoms by broadband radiation for different geometrical parameters of these cells and pumping intensity. The proposed multilayer gas cell is a compact analog of a large number of parallel atomic (molecular) beams and can be the basis for new high-precision and compact optical frequency standards.     

Optical state selection process with optical pumping in a cesium atomic fountain clock

We propose and realize a new optical state selection method on a cesium atomic fountain clock by applying a two-laser 3-3' optical pumping configuration to spin polarize atoms. The atoms are prepared in |F=3, m_F=0> clock state with optical pumping directly after being launched up, followed by a pushing beam to push away the atoms remaining in the |F=4> state. With a state selection efficiency exceeding 92%, this optical method can substitute the traditional microwave state selection, and helps to develop a more compact physical package. A Ramsey fringe has been achieved with this optical state selection method, and a contrast of 90% is obtained with a full width half maximum of 0.92 Hz. The short-term frequency stability of 6.8×10^-14 (τ/s)^-1/2 is acquired. In addition, the number of detected atoms is increased by a factor of 1.7 with the optical state selection.     

Collision-assisted Zeeman cooling of neutral atoms

We propose a new method to cool gaseous samples of neutral atoms. The gas is confined in a non dissipative optical trap in the presence of an homogeneous magnetic field. The method accumulates atoms in the m _F =0 Zeeman sub-level. Cooling occurs via collisions that produce atoms in states. Thanks to the second order Zeeman effect kinetic energy is transformed into internal energy and recycling of atoms is ensured by optical pumping. This method may allow quantum degeneracy to be reached by purely optical means. Received 10 May 2000     

Optical pumping with laser-induced-fluorescence

We describe a new procedure for optical pumping that is based on laser-induced fluorescence (LIF). The procedure is demonstrated by optically exciting a sample of Rb⁸⁵ atoms, which then creates a population imbalance between the ground state hyperfine levels of Rb⁸⁷ by “LIF depopulation pumping”. Though optical pumping with this technique increases the intensity dependent light-shift coefficient (i.e., ac Stark shift) of the Rb⁸⁷ 0-0 hyperfine transition, it reduces the frequency dependent light-shift coefficient by at least an order of magnitude. Since the stabilization of the diode laser wavelength is a significant challenge in the development of laser-pumped gas-cell atomic clocks, it is anticipated that optical pumping with LIF will be of benefit to atomic clock technology.     

Push-pull laser-atomic oscillator

A vapor of alkali-metal atoms in the external cavity of a semiconductor laser, pumped with a time-independent injection current, can cause the laser to self-modulate at the "field-independent 0-0 frequency" of the atoms. Push-pull optical pumping by the modulated light drives most of the atoms into a coherent superposition of the two atomic sublevels with an azimuthal quantum number m=0. The atoms modulate the optical loss of the cavity at the sharply defined 0-0 hyperfine frequency. As in a maser, the system is not driven by an external source of microwaves, but a very stable microwave signal can be recovered from the modulated light or from the modulated voltage drop across the laser diode. Potential applications for this new phenomenon include atomic clocks, the production of long-lived coherent atomic states, and the generation of coherent optical combs.     

An effective pumping method for increasing atomic utilization in a compact cold atom clock

We propose a simple pumping method to increase the effective population of cold atoms in the clock state and investigate the factors which affect the pumping efficiency in cold atom systems. We report the theory and demonstrate the corresponding experiment in an ⁸⁷Rb integrating sphere cold atom clock. The experimental results show that the population of cold atoms in the Zeeman sublevel |F=2, m_F=0> is approximately 1.62 times that of the result using optical pumping alone. This method can also be applied to increase the effective population in any one of the target Zeeman sublevels in other cold atom systems.     

Hybrid spin-exchange optical pumping of 3He

We demonstrate spin-exchange optical pumping of 3He using a "hybrid" K-Rb vapor mixture. The Rb atoms absorb light from a standard laser at 795 nm, then collisionally polarize the potassium atoms. Spin-exchange collisions of K and 3He atoms then transfer the angular momentum to the 3He with much greater efficiency than Rb-3He. For a K-rich vapor, the efficiency of the hybrid spin-exchange collisions approaches 1/4, an order of magnitude greater than achieved by pure Rb pumping. We present the first measurements of actual photon efficiencies (polarized nuclei produced per absorbed photon), and show that a new parasitic absorption process limits the total efficiencies for both hybrid and pure Rb pumping.     

The pumping of an X-ray laser by means of an optical laser

A new mechanism for pumping of an X-ray laser by an optical laser is suggested. The inverse population between the inner levels of atoms is attained by means of the use of fast laser plasma electrons.     

Quantum dynamics and statistics of a Bose condensate generated by an atomic laser

A self-consistent quantum theory is developed for an atomic laser utilizing cooling of atoms in a trap by the method of stimulated evaporation. The model describes the pumping and extraction of the atomic field from a trap upon its interaction with independent atomic reservoirs. The stimulated collisions between atoms in the trap, which produce a Bose condensate in the lower state of the trap, are considered. The interaction of atoms with a phonon field causes spontaneous transitions between the discrete states of the trap. Calculations performed for the three-and four-level models of the trap showed the possibility of generation of a strongly squeezed sub-Poisson Bose condensate.     

激光抽运极化原子束磁偏转铀浓缩方案

将激光抽运选择性极化原子束磁偏转方案用于铀同位素浓缩,考察了铀原子基态各子能级的磁偏转特性,提出了选择性光轴运极化的实验方案,讨论了可能得到的浓缩结果。     

Cooperative and interference effects in the resonance fluorescence of two identical three-level atoms at high photon densities: II. Numerical results

Numerical calculations are presented for the excitation spectrum of two identical three-level atoms interacting with a strong resonant laser field. The atoms interact through their dipole-dipole interaction and radiate to each other as well. The spectrum of the symmetric and antisymmetric modes due to the radiative decay from the higher to the lower excited state of the interacting atoms is considered without and with taking into account the effects of the strong pumping process. In the absence of strong pumping, the dipole-dipole interaction in the spectrum of the symmetric modes gives rise to an asymmetric doublet whose ratio of intensities is 2:1, while the spectrum of the antisymmetric modes consists of two peaks one of which represents a stable mode indicating the trapping of a photon between the atoms and a radiative one which has a lifetime one-half that of the isolated atom. In the presence of strong pumping, asymmetries due to the dipole-dipole interaction arise enhancing certain peaks while diminishing the intensity of others and a new pair of sidebands is induced as well. The computed spectra are presented graphically for different values of the Rabi frequencies and the dipole-dipole interaction, respectively.     

Simulation and optimization of a polymer directional coupler electro-optic switch with push-pull electrodes

Structural model and design technique are proposed for a polymer directional coupler electro-optic switch with rib waveguides and push-pull electrodes, of which the electric field distribution is analyzed by the conformal transforming method and image method. In order to get the minimum mode loss and the minimum switching voltage, the parameters of the waveguide and electrode are optimized, such as the core with, core thickness, buffer layer between the core and the electrode, coupling gap between the waveguides, electrode thickness, electrode width and electrode gap. Switching Characteristics are analyzed, which include the output power, insertion loss, and crosstalk. To realize normal switching function, the fabrication error, spectrum shift, and coupling loss between a single mode fiber (SMF) and the waveguide are discussed. Simulation results show that the coupling length is 3082 μm, push-pull switching voltage is 2.14 V, insertion loss is less than 1.17 dB, and crosstalk is less than −30 dB for the designed device.     

Light-Induced shifts in the frequency of a multiphoton radiooptical SHF resonance in alkali atoms

A computation is carried out for light-induced shifts in the frequency of a multiphoton radiooptical SHF resonance in alkali atoms on the basis of the quantum formalism of spherical tensors. The components of a light-induced shift in frequency at magneto-independent 0–0– and 1,–1-transitions in⁸⁷Rb atoms under the conditions of isotopic filtration of the resonance light of pumping are calculated. The difference between the temperatures of a filter cell is discovered at which the point of zero shift in the frequency of radiooptical resonance is attained. The components of the light-induced shift of frequency in optically oriented⁸⁷Rb and¹³³Cs atoms are compared in the absence of collisional reorientation in excited state. The prevailing role of the tensor component of light-induced shift in pumping by the D₁-line of a head doublet and the effect of the orientational dependence of the frequency of a multiphoton resonance on change in the sign of the pumping source radiation polarization are noted. St. Petersburg State Polytechnical University, 29 Politekhnicheskaya Str., St. Petersburg, 195251, Russia. Translated from Zburnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 65, No. 6, pp. 832–838, November–December, 1998.     

Studying the possibility of deep laser cooling of <Superscript>24</Superscript>Mg atoms in an optical lattice: Two-level quantum model

The possible deep laser cooling of ²⁴Mg atoms in a deep optical lattice in the presence of an additional pumping field resonant to the narrow 3s3s¹S₀ → 3s3p³P₁ (λ = 457 nm) optical transition is studied. Two quantum models of the laser cooling of atoms in the optical trap are compared. One is based on the direct numerical solution to the kinetic quantum equation for an atomic density matrix; it considers both optical pumping and quantum recoil effects during interaction between the atoms and field photons. The second, simplified model is based on decomposing the states of the atoms over the levels of vibration in the optical trap and analyzing the evolution of these states. The comparison allows derivation of optical field parameters (pumping field intensity and detuning) that ensure cooling of the atoms to minimal energies. The conditions for fast laser cooling in an optical trap are found.     

强磁场下Cs原子超精细塞曼能级上的光泵浦研究

强磁场中的Ｃｓ原子有较大的超精细塞曼分裂，实验用频率可调谐的窄线宽半导体激光调谐到各超精细塞曼能级上进行光泵浦，利用稳态吸收谱方法研究了原子的光泵浦。表明基态超精细相互作用的碰撞修正项导致的驰豫跃迁是谱形状和电子自旋极化新特征的根缘。同时提出了强场下极化度的一种测量方法。     

Conditional Synthesis of Entangled Coherent States with Continuous External Pumping in a Dispersive Cavity QED

The interaction of $N$ two-level atoms with both a two-mode cavity field and an external classical pumping field, and with the fields being degenerate in frequency, is studied in the regime where the atoms and fields are highly detuned. This dispersive interaction can be used to generate a large number of important entangled coherent states conditional on the initial atomic states and state-selective measurements. A dynamical relation is established between the results for the case with continuous pumping and the case without external driving where the coherent field is put in as the initial condition.     

Open discharges: Structure, development, and role of photoemission

The research reported in three preceding papers is summarized. The photoelectron mechanism for the formation of electron beams in an open discharge with a grid anode is revised. Revision of the discharge mechanism also requires revision of the optimal conditions for its excitation. A new method for pumping lasers by beams of fast atoms formed in an open discharge with an inverted voltage is proposed. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 68, 33–38 (March 1998)     

On the Sub-Doppler Spectroscopy of Optically Excited Atoms in a Thin Gas Cell

This work continues a theoretical investigation of the capabilities of the well-known method based on using a monochromatic probe light beam in combination with optical pumping of atoms (molecules) of a rarefied-gas medium by a broadband radiation in a thin cell the diameter of which is much larger than its internal thickness. In contrast to calculations carried out in the previous publications on this method of spectroscopy, here, we consider the case of arbitrary values of pump intensity and thickness of a cylindrical gas cell. Thus, all the possible mechanisms and specificities of velocity selection of atoms in optically excited levels caused by transit-time relaxation of such atoms in gas cells of this kind are analyzed. Within the framework of this approach, sub-Doppler absorption resonances of the probe light beam corresponding to quantum transitions from the upper level excited by optical pumping are investigated. The obtained results can be used in high-resolution spectroscopy of atoms (molecules), as well as for laser-frequency stabilization to established narrow spectral resonances.     

Frequency-selective laser optical pumping and spin exchange of cesium with129Xe and131Xe in a high magnetic field

We report the experimental results of frequency-selective laser optical pumping and spin exchange of Cs with¹²⁹Xe and¹³¹Xe in a high magnetic field of 11.74 T. Our results show that hyperpolarized¹²⁹Xe and¹³¹Xe nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) signals exhibit alternating phases when the laser frequency for pumping the cesium atoms is changed, which is explained on the basis of the high-field optical pumping of Cs. We obtain about 3% polarization of the¹²⁹Xe. The electron-spin polarization of the Cs atoms has been measured to be about 22% with a simple NMR method.     

Quantummechanical solutions of the laser masterequation I

The masterequation for the statistical operatorW of a Laser mode andA active two-level atoms 1 is solved by using the coherent state representation 2 of the lightfield. The ansatz forW represents the most general symmetrical coupling of the light mode to all atoms and therefore contains the full influence of quantum fluctuations of the atomic system on the light mode. The system of equations can be solved practically exactly in the stationary case and leads to a photon number distribution in the laser valid for arbitrary pumping. This distribution agrees with that found by a Fokker-Planck equation 3 for not too high pumping and approaches the Poisson distribution for very high pumping. The smooth transition of the inversion from σ₀ (below threshold) to σ (above threshold) can also be calculated.