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.     

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.     

On the capabilities of sub-Doppler photoionization spectroscopy in thin gas cells

A high-sensitivity photoionization method of registration of narrow sub-Doppler resonances in the spectral distribution of a flow of metastable atoms (or molecules) excited from the ground quantum term by a monochromatic laser beam propagating at normal incidence through an ultrathin gas cell (with a micrometer-scale or even nanoscale gas layer thickness) is proposed. Based on density matrix equations for atomic particles, various mechanisms of broadening of the considered resonances, such as time-of-flight, field, and Doppler broadening, are analyzed. The requirements for laser beam parameters and gas cell dimensions that allow obtaining the narrowest resonances are established. The proposed method can be used in ultrahigh resolution spectroscopy of atoms and molecules, as well as high-precision optical frequency standards.     

Influence of transverse configuration of running laser beam on sub-Doppler structure of its absorption spectrum in thin gas cell

The theoretical investigation is conducted of the strong dependence of sub-Doppler resonances of absorption on the transverse intensity profile of a monochromatic laser beam propagating through a thin cell with rarefied gas medium. The resonances under study correspond to centers of quantum transitions and are caused by the specificity of the optical pumping of atoms during their flight between the walls of a thin cell whose internal thickness is many times smaller than its diameter. The detection of narrow high-contrast sub-Doppler absorption resonances, which are prospective for efficient laser-frequency stabilization, can be facilitated by the proper selection of the radial distribution of the light beam intensity in the cell’s transverse cross section.     

High contrast resonances of the coherent population trapping on sublevels of the ground atomic term

We have detected and analyzed narrow, high contrast coherent population trapping resonances, which appear in transmission of the probe monochromatic light beam under action of the counterpropagating two-frequency laser radiation, on example of the nonclosed three level ??-system formed by spectral components of the Doppler broadened D₂ line of cesium atoms (in the cell with the rarefied Cs vapor). These nontrivial resonances are determined directly by the trapped atomic population on the definite lower level of the ??-system and may be used in atomic frequency standards, sensitive magnetometers and in ultrahigh resolution laser spectroscopy of atoms and molecules.     

Velocity selective optical pumping and repumping effects with counter and copropagating laser radiations for D<Subscript>2</Subscript> lines of rubidium

The effects of a strong control or pump laser, counter propagating or copropagating with the probe beam, on the probe absorption spectra of ⁸⁵Rb and ⁸⁷Rb-D₂ transitions have been investigated inside a room temperature Rb vapour cell. In both cases a set of strong velocity selective resonance dips are observed at different velocities. Their movements across the Doppler broadened probe absorption profile have been studied for different lock frequencies of the control laser. These spectra are modified by optical pumping effects due to the presence of another hyperfine component of the ground state. A repumping laser, from the dark hyperfine component of the ground level transfers almost 75% of the atoms from the dark state to the pump probe cycle hence reducing the optical pumping effect. A numerical simulation is done to explain the observed spectra. The effect of a control laser on the Lamb dip spectrum of the probe laser has also been investigated. The control beam is used to improve the strength of a weak hyperfine dip on the Doppler broadened probe spectrum. The strength of the hyperfine dip increases by a factor of 3.2 in presence of the control laser. The observed dips show that pump-probe spectroscopy can be used as velocity selectors of atoms.     

Doppler-free spectroscopy of rubidium atoms driven by a control laser

A scheme of Doppler-free spectroscopy is experimentally demonstrated with a co-propagating control laser locking to an atomic hyperfine transition, and the differential transmission of the probe and the reference laser is detected. Crossover resonances are eliminated by selecting the class of atoms with zero velocity in the direction of beam propagation. In addition, the sub-Doppler spectrum experiences optical gain compared to the conventional saturated-absorption spectrum as a result of optical pumping.     

Optical pumping experiments using a cw dye laser with a narrow spectral output

An optical pumping experiment on the Na atoms of an atomic beam by means of a continuous wave dye laser is described. The atoms interact at two different regions with the laser beam. In the first region the atoms are optically pumped so that a Zeeman coherence in their substates is produced. In the second light beam the coherence is probed. Any changes in the phase of the eigenfunction of the atom through interaction in a magnetic field, or through collisions, or other effects occuring in the light free section can thus be sensitively detected. The possible applications of the set-up are discussed.     

激光微波双共振导致的基态碱原子的非均衡分布

本文求得了激光微波双共振抽运碱原子束时基态原子实现最大非均衡分布的条件,这与新近的实验结果相符。分析了影响非均衡分布的机制,如相干囚禁,指出了消除其影响的途径,与双激光抽运对比,讨论了激光微波双共振抽运过程的特点。 关键词：     

Sub-doppler absorption resonances of ring-shaped laser beams in a thin vapor cell

Experimental research is carried out into the features of sub-Doppler absorption resonances caused by optical pumping and transit relaxation of Cs atoms in a thin 120-μm cell (with rarefied Cs vapor) for ring-shaped laser beams. Such resonances are analyzed both in the transmission of the single running beam and at the interaction of counterpropagating beams for different degrees of their spatial overlapping in the cell.     

Optically and electrically pumped random lasing from ZnO films annealed at different temperatures

We have investigated the optically and electrically pumped random lasing (RL) actions in ZnO films annealed at low and high temperatures respectively. While the optically pumped RL threshold for the ZnO film annealed at a low temperature, which features stronger light scattering and larger optical loss, is far higher than that for the ZnO film annealed at a high temperature, the electrically pumped RL threshold currents for the two ZnO films are almost the same with the electrical pumping scheme of metal-insulator-semiconductor structure. It is suggested that if the lasing region within the ZnO film is narrow enough in the case of electrical pumping, the strong light scattering can substantially alleviate the adverse effect of large optical loss on the onset of RL.     

Optical relaxation effects on magnetic resonances in vapours oriented by broad-line laser excitation

Relaxation effects produced by the broad-band pumping laser light on magnetic resonances induced in oriented vapours are investigated. Experimental evidence of resonance bleaching by optical transverse relaxation in a sodium vapour pumped by multifrequency laser radiation is reported.     

Optical functions of Bi<Subscript>2</Subscript>Te<Subscript>3</Subscript>-Sb<Subscript>2</Subscript>Te<Subscript>3</Subscript> solid solutions in the range of plasmon excitation and interband transitions

The most narrow sub-Doppler frequency resonances in the linear absorption of monochromatic radiation that propagates in the normal direction through a cell containing a layer of rarefied gas medium with a thickness smaller than or on the order of the wavelength of this radiation are theoretically studied. The calculation is performed using as an example a three-dimensional gas cell shaped like a rectangular parallelepiped. It is shown that the width and amplitude of considered sub-Doppler resonances (in the vicinity of centers of rather weak quantum transitions) significantly depend on the transit relaxation of atomic particles, which is determined by their transit times through the irradiated region of the cell both in longitudinal and in transverse directions. The restrictions of the approximation of the planar one-dimensional cell that was previously used in such calculations are determined. Possible applications of linear absorption resonances in ultrathin (nanometer) gas cells as references for optical frequency standards are discussed.     

Optical magnetometer array for fetal magnetocardiography

We describe an array of spin-exchange-relaxation-free optical magnetometers designed for detection of fetal magnetocardiography (fMCG). The individual magnetometers are configured with a small volume with intense optical pumping, surrounded by a large pump-free region. Spin-polarized atoms that diffuse out of the optical pumping region precess in the ambient magnetic field and are detected by a probe laser. Four such magnetometers, at the corners of a 7 cm square, are configured for gradiometry by feeding back the output of one magnetometer to a field coil to null uniform magnetic field noise at frequencies up to 200 Hz. We present the first measurements of fMCG signals using an atomic magnetometer.     

Influence of atomic motion on the shape of two-photon resonance in gas

A gas of three-level atoms with Λ configuration of energy levels was taken as an example to demonstrate that the influence of particle motion on the two-photon resonances extends further than the residual Doppler shift (k ₁?k ₂)v. In particular, a narrow dip in the absorption spectrum (“dark” resonance) undergoes substantial narrowing, as compared to the atoms at rest. The width of this resonance is studied nonperturbatively as a function of the intensities of probe and strong fields.     

铷蒸气Λ-型系统中的受激Raman谱与光泵效应

从理论和实验上研究了⁸⁵Rb 原子蒸气D1线系统中的受激Raman现象. 在Λ-型能级系统中, 抽运光对弱探测光的影响有两部分: 受激Raman激发和光泵效应. 在一定的抽运光强度和失谐量条件下, 受激Raman谱表现为增益谱或损耗谱; 以光泵效应导致的吸收谱为背景时, 便分别形成了窄线宽透明窗口或线宽差异很大的吸收双线. 理论模拟和实验结果基本符合. 基于这些研究, 从新的角度阐述了在Λ-型系统中的电磁感应透明和Autler-Townes分裂这两个重要现象与受激Raman谱之间的关系. 关键词： 受激Raman谱 光泵效应 电磁感应透明 吸收双线     

Transmission and reflection spectra of a photonic crystal with a Raman defects

Features of Raman gain of probe radiation in three-level atoms placed in a defect of a one-dimensional photonic crystal in the presence of laser radiation (pump) at an adjacent high-frequency transition have been theoretically investigated. It has been shown that there is a pump intensity range where narrow peaks (resonances) simultaneously appear in the transmission and reflection spectra of the probe field. Beyond this region, the peak in the transmission spectrum is transformed to a narrow dip. The spectral position of these peaks is determined by the Raman resonance and the transmittance and reflectance can be larger than unity at pump intensities from several microwatts per square centimeter to several tens of milliwatts per square centimeter. The nature of narrow peaks is due to a sharp dispersion of a nonlinear refractive index near the Raman resonance; this dispersion is responsible for a strong decrease in the group velocity of probe radiation. The proposed scheme makes it possible to obtain controlled ultranarrow resonances in the transmission and reflection spectra of the photonic crystal.     

Wavelength modulation absorption spectrometry from optically pumped collision broadened atoms and molecules

A theoretical investigation of the influence of optical pumping on wavelength modulation absorption spectrometry (WMAS) signals from collision broadened atoms and molecules is presented. General expressions for the nf-WMAS signal from atomic and molecular systems, modeled as three-level systems that can accommodate both optical saturation and optical pumping, are derived by the use of a previously developed Fourier series-based formalism in combination with rate equations solved under steady-state conditions. The expressions are similar to those describing the nf-WMAS signal from two-level systems that can accommodate optical saturation [Schmidt FM, Foltynowicz A, Gustafsson J, Axner O, WMAS from optically saturated collision-broadened transitions. JQSRT 2005;94:225-54], the difference being the value of the saturation flux, wherefore the general parametric dependence of WMAS signals from optically pumped systems is the same as that from optically saturated systems. The additional effect of optical pumping on the WMAS signal is investigated for three typical cases: molecules or atoms in an ordinary atmosphere, atoms in an inert atmosphere, and atoms or molecules possessing metastable states. The possibility to describe any of these systems with a two-level model is investigated.     

Index of refraction engineering in five-level dressed interacting ground states atoms

We present a five-level atomic system in which the index of refraction of a probe laser can be enhanced or reduced below unity with vanishing absorption in the region between pairs of absorption and gain lines formed by dressing of the atoms with a control laser and rf/microwave fields. By weak incoherent pumping of the population into a single metastable state, one can create several narrow amplifying resonances. At frequencies between these gain lines and additional absorption lines, there exist regions of vanishing absorption but resonantly enhanced index of refraction. In Rb vapors with density N in units of cm(-3), we predict an index of refraction up to n≈√(1+1.2×10(-14)N) for the D1 line, which is more than an order of magnitude larger than other proposals for index of refraction enhancement. Furthermore, the index can be readily reduced below 1 by simply changing the sign of the probe or rf field detunings. This enhancement is robust with respect to homogeneous and inhomogeneous broadening.     

As much of cosmology as is possible

This article traces the development of optical pumping from the ideas first elaborated by Kastler in 1950. It deals with the general characteristics of optical pumping, the optical ‘magnetization’ of gases and vapours, spin exchange, metastability exchange, orientation by collision, multiple quantum resonances, atomic coherences, quantum beats, and dressed atoms: and concludes with a note on laser spectroscopy.