Optical orientation of atoms in spontaneous Raman scattering of elliptically polarized light

A general approach to the problem of spontaneous transfer of light-induced anisotropy in the scheme of Raman scattering of resonance elliptically polarized light is developed. Depending on the type of the field-excited (a)?(b) transition, the stationary distribution of atoms over the sublevels of the final level (c) coupled with the excited level only by the (b)→(c) spontaneous transition is either isotropic and does not depend on field parameters or anisotropic. In the latter case, the anisotropy is determined by both field polarization and (at fairly large level momentum values) field detuning and intensity.     

The scattering of partially polarized light by oriented atoms

A compact expression is derived for the cross section of scattering of arbitrarily polarized light by oriented atomic systems, in which the dependence on the geometric parameters and on the Stokes parameters preassigning the state of partial polarization of incident radiation is explicitly separated. It is found that the cross section of any photoprocess accompanied by photon absorption (stimulated emission) contains the sum of the products of the circular and linear dichroisms of the process by the respective Stokes parameters. The effect of the atomic orientation and of the dissipation of light energy on the polarization singularities and angular distribution of scattered light is investigated. In particular, it is demonstrated that, in the case of an open dissipation channel, the angular distribution remains dependent on the atomic orientation even in the case of zero degree of circular polarization of scattered radiation.     

Manifestation of the second-order alignment in light scattering by polarized atoms

An expression for the cross section of light scattering by axisymmetrically aligned atomic systems is derived in a compact form. The cross section under consideration is proportional to the state multipole of the fourth rank. The effect of the second-order alignment determined by the fourth-rank state multipole on the polarization and the angular distribution of scattered light is investigated. The polarization of incident light can be arbitrary and, in the general case, is specified by the Stokes parameters. In particular, it is demonstrated that the second-order alignment cannot induce circular polarization of scattered light and does not influence the dissipation-induced effects of circular dichroism associated with the first-order alignment but leads to a change in the angular distribution and the degree of linear polarization of the scattered light.     

Interference effects in alignment and orientation processes of atoms excited by polarized radiation

The dynamics of the processes of alignment and orientation of atoms subjected to the action of polarized radiation has been studied theoretically in the energy range of excitation of autoionization resonances. The alignment parameters A ₂₀ for the 4p ⁴5p states of Kr II populated through the excitation and autoionization decay of Kr I 3d ⁹ np resonances depend on energy due to the interference between different resonance channels and the channel of direct photoionization. It is predicted that the orientation parameter O ₁₀ of some Kr II 4p ⁴5p states and the parameter of the angular distribution of photoelectrons β_e1 strongly depend on energy. The absolute photoionization cross sections are calculated for the population of the Kr II 4p ⁴5p states in the case where the energy of excitation photons corresponds to the first four 3d ⁹ np resonances. A good agreement between the calculated and measured photoionization cross sections proves that it is important to take into account the interference between different resonance channels in order to appreciate the dynamics of the Auger decay of Kr I 3d ⁹ np resonances.     

Coherent effects in multiple scattering of linearly polarized light

Comparing the stochastic Monte Carlo technique with the iteration procedure for solving the Bethe-Salpeter equation in the framework of numerical simulation, the time correlation function and the interference component of the coherent backscattering of a linearly polarized light wave in a multiply scattering medium are calculated. The results of the simulation agree well with theoretical results obtained by generalizing the Milne solution, as well as with experimental data.     

Scattering of partially polarized light by aligned atoms

A compact expression for the cross section of scattering of an arbitrarily polarized light by aligned atomic systems is obtained, in which the dependence on the geometric parameters and the Stokes parameters specifying the state of partial polarization of the incident radiation is represented in explicit form. The effect of atomic alignment and the processes of dissipation of the light energy on the polarization specific features and the angular distribution of the scattered light is investigated. In particular, it is shown that, if a dissipative channel is accessible, the angular distribution and the degree of linear polarization of scattered light depend on the degree of circular polarization of the incident radiation η₂. Dissipative processes also induce the circular polarization of the light scattered by aligned atoms when η₂=0.     

The scattering of slow atoms by light

A kinetic equation has been obtained describing the motion of atoms in a resonant field of standing light wave. This equation is used to describe the scattering of atoms for conditions close to experimental ones [1]. It is shown that the dependence of atomic scattering has a dip at the resonance frequency of the field.     

Optical orientation by linearly polarized light in intersubband quantum-well transitions

The absorption of linearly polarized light in low-dimensional semiconductor structures is investigated. It is shown that the absorption under consideration can give rise to spin orientation of free carriers. A theory of this optical orientation by linearly polarized light is developed for resonant intersubband optical transitions in n-type quantum wells. It is demonstrated that, in the vicinity of the resonance, the optical orientation undergoes spectral inversion, namely, the electron spin orientation reverses sign with increasing frequency. This behavior can be accounted for by the spin-orbit subband splitting, which is linear in the wave vector, and by the energy and quasi-momentum conservation laws.     

Radiative effects in deep inelastic scattering of polarized leptons by polarized nucleons

Low-order electromagnetic corrections to deep inelastic scattering of polarized leptons by polarized nucleons are derived and investigated using a covariant method. Thorough numerical calculations of the corrections to cross sections and to the measured asymmetry are carried out for μp (ep) scattering in the range of lepton energy E = 200–500 GeV (10–16 GeV). The sensitivity of the corrections to the choice of the structure functions is investigated. The electromagnetic corrections to the asymmetry are found to be less than 10% within the greatest part of the kinematical region, but if x ～ 0, y ～ 1 they can reach a few tens of percent. The lowest order neutral current contribution to the asymmetry is obtained within the framework of standard electroweak interaction theory and the quark parton model. It is found this effect may be significant, especially in the kinematical range where electromagnetic corrections are negligible.     

Second-order picture of correlation effects in closed-shell atoms

Results of many calculations of the MP2 correlation energies for ground states of closed-shell atoms (referred to as MP2/CA energies) are presented and studied. Special attention is paid to laying down rules which govern the dependence on the nuclear charge (Z dependence) and on the number of electrons (N dependence) of (a) the partial wave (PW) increments to the second-order pair energies, (b) the second-order pair energies, and (c) the configurational pair energies. It has been found that these energy increments disclose many regularities useful from both the physical and computational points of view. Some of the MP2/CA increments are quasi-transferable between similar systems. The results obtained are used as a starting point for an extensive discussion of the methodological significance of MP2/CA studies, and for indicating various actual and potential areas of application of the MP2/CA approach in many-electron theory.     

Self-rotation of elliptically polarized light in Doppler-broadened rubidium atoms

We present a theoretical and experimental study of self-rotation of incident elliptically polarized light on a rubidium atomic vapor. We construct density matrix equations, which are then solved numerically, and further averaged over atomic transit times and a Maxwell-Boltzmann velocity distribution. We calculate the rotation angle as a function of detuning for various laser intensities and polarizations. We compare the calculated results with experimental results and find good agreement between them.     

Multiple scattering of light by atoms in the weak localization regime

Coherent backscattering is a multiple scattering interference effect which enhances the diffuse reflection off a disordered sample in the backward direction. Classically, the enhanced intensity is twice the average background under well chosen experimental conditions. We show how the quantum internal structure of atomic scatterers leads to a significantly smaller enhancement. Theoretical results for double scattering in the weak localization regime are presented which confirm recent experimental observations.     

Single layer homogeneous model for surface roughness by polarized light scattering

In this paper a homogeneous single layer model for surface roughness by polarized light has been developed. It has been shown that the reflectance change in non-absorbing layer is directly proportional to the refractive index of the ambient and substrate media for s polarization but inversely proportional to the p polarization and it is directly proportional to the square of the thickness of the layer for both the polarization. In an absorbing layer, it has been shown that the thickness of the layer is equal to the twice of surface roughness of the single layer identical system for s polarization but it is ratio of twice of surface roughness to the square of refractive index of thin film for p polarization. The extinction coefficient of the layer is directly proportional to the thickness of that layer for both the polarization. The consequence of the scattered light on the specular reflectance and transmittance for oblique incidence shows that there is reduction in reflectance (in both non-absorbing and absorbing cases) and transmittance (in the absorbing case for p polarization only), due to roughness on the surface under the Drude effective-medium approximation. Thus such an absorbing layer provides a valid model for the effect of scatter on the transmittance for p polarization only.     

Multiple scattering of polarized light in a turbid medium

It is shown that multiple scattering of polarized light in a turbid medium can be represented as independent propagation of three basic modes: intensity and linearly and circularly polarized modes. Weak interaction between the basic modes can be described by perturbation theory and gives rise to “overtones” (additional polarization modes). Transport equations for the basic and additional modes are derived from a vector radiative transfer equation. Analytical solutions to these equations are found in the practically important cases of diffusive light propagation and small-angle multiple scattering. The results obtained are in good agreement with experimental and numerical results and provide an explanation for the experimentally observed difference in depolarization between linearly and circularly polarized waves.     

Two-dimensional optical control of electron spin orientation by linearly polarized light in InGaAs

Optical absorption of circularly polarized light is well known to yield an electron spin polarization in direct band gap semiconductors. We demonstrate that electron spins can even be generated with high efficiency by absorption of linearly polarized light in InxGa(1-x)As. By changing the incident linear polarization direction we can selectively excite spins in both polar and transverse directions. These directions can be identified by the phase during spin precession using time-resolved Faraday rotation. We show that the spin orientations do not depend on the crystal axes suggesting an extrinsic excitation mechanism.     

偏振光大气传输的前向散射新模型

建立了偏振光空间传输前向散射的物理模型。对各向同性散射介质,在非相干性假设条件下,导出了偏振光双散射和多散射前向散射的有效Mueller矩阵,给出了偏振光Mie散射前向有效Mueller矩阵各矩阵元之间的对称性关系,即Mueller矩阵的16个矩阵元中只有7个是独立的,其他9个矩阵元通过组合及一定角度的旋转即可得到。利用Monte Carol方法模拟了偏振光在空间传输10km的前向散射的有效Mueller矩阵,模拟结果表明各矩阵元存在一定的对称性关系,与基于本模型导出的偏振光前向散射的有效Mueller矩阵元具有较好的一致性。     

Electron scattering by atoms at intermediate energies II. Theoretical and experimental data for light atoms

Experimental data for the scattering of electrons by selected light atoms at intermediate energies have been collected and compared with the predictions of the theoretical models discussed in part I. The data discussed include elastic scattering and discrete excitation but ionization is not covered. The target atoms include H, He; the alkali metals; the alkaline earths; C, N, O and the rare gases from Ne to Xe, together with certain positive ions isoelectronic with these neutral atoms.     

Positron scattering by atoms

We describe the present status of coupled-state calculations for positron scattering by ‘one-electron’ atoms. We show how pseudostates are used to represent the continuum channels. Illustrative results from positron scattering by atomic hydrogen and the alkali metals are presented.