Dependence of the longitudinal relaxation time of the polarization of cesium atoms in the ground state on the temperature of an antirelaxation coating

The dependence of the time of longitudinal relaxation of the ground-state cesium vapor on the temperature of the antirelaxation coating of the cell walls is studied experimentally. It is found that the fast component of relaxation is independent of the coating temperature, while the slow component depends on it. The temperature dependence of the slow relaxation component is used to estimate the energy of activation of desorption of cesium atoms from the antirelaxation coating, E _desorp = 0.13 eV.     

Efficiency of photodesorption of Rb atoms collected on polymer organic film in vapor-cell

The efficiency of photodesorption of Rb atoms previously collected on polymer organic film has been studied in detail. This study was carried out in a Pyrex glass cell of which the inner surface was covered with (poly)dimethylsiloxane (PDMS) film and illuminated by a powerful flash lamp. The desorption dynamic of the Rb atoms density in the cell caused by the illumination and percentage of desorbed atoms was studied by using of Rb resonance lamp and free running diode laser as sources of probing light. It was determined that 85 percent collected chemical active Rb atoms and stored during 16 s in the closed cell, 75 percent in the pumped cell can be desorbed by single flash of the lamp. The number of stored atoms decays with a characteristic time of 60 min in isolated cell and with a time 12.4 min in a pumped cell. We believe that this efficient method of collection and fast realization of atoms or molecules could be used for enhancement of sensitivity of existed sensors for the trace detection of various elements (including toxic or radioactive ones) which is important to environmental applications, medicine or in geology. The effect might help to construct an efficient light-driven atomic source for a magneto-optical trap in a case of extremely low vapor density or very weak flux of atoms, such as artificial radioactive alkali atoms.     

Sputtering of molecules during low-energy electron bombardment of alkali halides

The emission of molecules during bombardment of several alkali halides with a 540 eV electron beam has been investigated. Using a time of flight method the energy distributions of the halogen molecules have been measured at various temperatures of the target. The relative halogen molecule to atom ratio has also been examined as a function of the target temperature. It has been found that the molecules were formed from the atoms at the alkali halide surface. This process and the subsequent desorption of the molecules account for the experimental results.     

Electron beam driven alkali metal atom source for loading a?magneto-optical trap in a cryogenic environment

We present a versatile and compact electron beam driven source for alkali metal atoms, which can be implemented in cryostats. With a heat load of less than 10?mW, the heat dissipation normalized to the atoms loaded into the magneto-optical trap (MOT) is about a factor 1000 smaller than for a typical alkali metal dispenser. The measured linear scaling of the MOT loading rate with electron current observed in the experiments indicates that electron stimulated desorption is the corresponding mechanism to release the atoms.     

A new class of photo-induced phenomena in siloxane films

The light induced atomic desorption effect, known as LIAD, is observed whenever Pyrex cells, coated with siloxane films and containing alkali atoms, are illuminated. LIAD is a non-thermal phenomenon and it can be observed even with very weak light intensities. We show that the simultaneous contribution to the photo-emission of atoms adsorbed both at the film surface and within the film must be taken into account in order to fit the experimental data. We demonstrate that both the desorption efficiency and the diffusion coefficient of the alkali atoms embedded in the dielectric film depend on the desorbing light intensity. These features characterize a new class of photo-induced phenomena whose analysis gives new insights in the comprehension of the atom-surface interaction and of the atom-bulk diffusion and opens interesting perspectives for applications. Received 27 April 2000 and Received in final form 15 September 2000     

Untersuchungen über die Erzeugung und den Nachweis von Alkaliatomstrahlen im Energiebereich zwischen 6 und 4000 eV

An alkali metal atomic beam source for the 6–4000 eV energy range is described. The fast atomic beam is obtained by the neutralization of an alkali ion beam and is detected by surface ionization on an unheated filament. The processes involved in collisions of fast alkali atoms with a tungsten surface are investigated and the behaviour of the atoms is compared with the behaviour of the corresponding ions.     

CO adsorption on alkali-metal covered Ni(100)

The effect of preadsorbed alkali metal atoms Na, K and Cs on CO adsorption on Ni(100) has been studied using Auger spectroscopy and thermal desorption. It was found that the presence of alkali metals causes an appearance of several more tightly bound states in the CO thermal desorption spectra. The observed difference in carbon and oxygen Auger peak line shape on a bare and alkali modified Ni(100) is indicative that the presence of alkali adatoms induces CO decomposition on the Ni(100) surface. The fraction of dissociated CO increases with the amount of alkali adatoms present. At the same overlayer coverage the dissociation probability increases in the sequence Na, K, Cs. A comparison of the strength of the promoting effect on CO dissociation with the changes in the surface electron density in the presence of alkali adatoms has shown that at low overlayer coverages the electronic factor plays a major role in explaining the action of the surface modificators.     

Semiempirical pseudopotential surfaces for chemical reactions: The (AB)+ X - dialkali halide systems

A generalization of the Roach-Child semiempirical pseudopotential calculation for K + NaCl to several analogous dialkali halide systems has been used to elucidate the chemical interactions governing the reaction dynamics. The Li + LiF ground-state potential surface, which exhibits a ～ 20 kcal/mole basin for isosceles Li₂F, is qualitatively similar to one obtained in a recent configurational interaction calculation. It is shown that regions of the Na₂Cl ground-state surface corresponding to Na₂ ⁺ interacting with Cl^- can be described in terms of an ion-pair Rittner potential model similar to that employed for the alkali halides. Chemical trends in the triangular complex well depths satisfactorily account for the experimentally observed transition between the collision complex mechanism (Rb + KCl) and the osculating complex model (Li + KBr) for the alkali-alkali halide exchange reactions at thermal energies. For collinear configurations with the alkalis on opposite ends, avoided intersections between the lowest two potential surfaces are characterized in terms of diabatic surfaces computed from truncated basis sets. Crossings of these surfaces account for the vibrational-electronic energy transfer between alkali atoms and vibrationally excited alkali halides. The ionic X ^- + A ₂ ⁺ potential surfaces are used to predict the product electronic excitation and partitioning of exoergicity in reactions of halogen atoms with alkali dimer molecules.     

Electron stimulated desorption of neutral species from (100) KCl surfaces

Composition changes of a (100) KCl surface bombarded by 1 keV electrons have been studied by Auger electron spectroscopy. Intensity ratios of characteristic alkali and halogen Auger lines were monitored as a function of target temperature and beam current density. In addition, for the first time angle-resolved energy distributions of electron desorbed K and Cl atoms were measured using mass-analyzed time of flight techniques. For temperatures higher than about 100°C, a near-stoichiometric surface composition was obtained and a significant non-thermal component was observed in the kinetic energy distributions of Cl atoms emitted normal to the (100) surface. These results can be interpreted in terms of new concepts regarding the excitonic mechanism of electron stimulated desorption (ESD).     

On the effect of photoinduced emission of alkali atoms from a paraffin coating on the rate of spin relaxation of atoms in the volume of a cell

The effect of photoinduced emission of alkali atoms from the paraffin coating of a cell on the spin relaxation time of the atoms was studied experimentally. No effect was detected. It was additionally found that long irradiation of the cell surface by light with a power density of about 1 mW/cm² does not cause any degradation of the coating in spite of almost complete removal of the atoms from the coating due to their photostimulated diffusion in the layer and photodesorption. After the irradiation is complete, the surface contacting with the alkali vapor is again saturated with the alkali atoms with a time constant of about 1 h.     

Application of the light-shift effect to laser frequency stabilization with reference to a microwave frequency standard

A new method allowing laser frequency stabilization with reference to a microwave oscillator, independently of the laser intensity, is described. The method makes use of the dependence of the ground-state hfs transition frequency on the optical radiation frequency in alkali atoms irradiated by quasi-resonant light. Preliminary experimental investigations are reported in the case of a cw GaAs diode laser tuned to the D₂ absorption line in a cesium gas cell. The absolute laser frequency exhibited variations of 1.4 MHz r.m.s. around an average value determined to within 2 parts in 10¹⁰ for a period of 5 minutes. The possibility of defining a cesium beam, reference wavelength connected with the time standard is discussed.     

Graphene growth during benzene pyrolysis on an iridium crystal

The dependence of graphene formation mechanisms during pyrolysis of carbon-containing molecules on iridium on the crystal structure and surface curvature has been studied using field desorption and field electron microscopy. The structure and shape of grown carbon formations, diffusion, desorption, and intercalation of alkali metal atoms have been investigated.     

Vordurchschlagsphänomene der Feldemission im Nanosekundenbereich

Variation of field emitters on Mo- and Cu-cathodes were investigated by field emission microscopy after application of nanosecond voltage pulses. The emitters delivered emission currents with densities of more than 10¹³ Am^?2 without breakdown. Heating by these currents caused desorption and melting of emitter tips. From the desorption events resonance tunneling was deduced with typical UHV-conditions. Melting caused blunting of the emitters. Hence sharp micro-points exploded only by sufficiently fast heating (with time constants ≦ 1 ns) or by secondary effects due to contaminations. By introduction of air in the pressure region of 10^?4 - 10^?3 Pa new emitting sites appear with time constants of about 10^?8 s, probably by formation of oxides.     

Graphene traps for cesium atoms

A significant increase in the surface concentration of cesium atoms intercalated under graphene islands on rhodium has been revealed when annealing the adsorbed layer in a ultrahigh vacuum. Heating leads to a decrease in the area of graphene islands due to the solution of carbon atoms in the metal bulk. At the same time, the edge carbon atoms in the islands, which are coupled with the surface by chemisorptive forces, prevent the leakage of the alkali metal from under the islands. This leads to the significant compression of cesium and to an increase in its surface concentration under the islands by a factor of almost 10. The desorption of cesium is observed only after the complete thermal destruction of graphene islands.     

Light-induced ejection of calcium atoms from polymer surfaces

Laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) of calcium atoms at room temperature has been observed in a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) coated cell when the walls are illuminated with non resonant visible light. Ca atomic density in the gas phase, monitored by the LIF, is much higher than normal room-temperature vapour pressure of calcium. In past years photon-stimulated desorption (PSD) was observed for several alkali metals that adsorbed to solid films of PDMS polymers. High yields of photo-desorbed atoms (and molecules in the case of sodium) can be induced, at room temperature and below, by weak intensity radiation. The desorption is characterised by a frequency threshold, whereas any power threshold is undetectable. The calcium photo-ejection is characterised both by a frequency threshold (about 18 500 cm^-1) and by an observable power threshold (whose value becomes lower when the photo-ejecting light wavelength decreases).     

Electron-induced H atom desorption patterns created with a scanning tunneling microscope: Implications for controlled atomic-scale patterning on H-Si(1 0 0)

We have used scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) to explore the details of single and multiple H atom desorption from the H-Si(1 0 0)-2 × 1 surface induced by the inelastic scattering of electrons from an STM tip. The desorption of pairs of H atoms from individual Si dimers is rarely observed. Two-H atom desorption most often involves pairs of dimers, in the same or adjacent rows. This suggests that recombinative H₂ desorption via an interdimer reaction pathway, like that observed recently under nanosecond laser heating, may also be operative for electron-induced excitation using STM. Repeatable fabrication of desired size-selected dangling bond (DB) clusters is also achieved. The single atomic precision of the fabrication is a result of the intrinsically unfavorable paired H atom desorption from a single dimer, but does not result from the spatial localization of excitation energy of the Si-H bond under the STM tip as suggested in previous studies.     

Desorption of Rb and Cs from PDMS induced by non resonant light scattering

Simultaneous light-induced desorption of rubidium and cesium atoms has been observed in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) coated Pyrex cells at room temperature and at low light intensity. The two alkali atoms show the same dynamics and the same dependence on the desorbing light frequency. No competition in the free sites occupancy exists. An interpretation of the experimental results in terms of non-resonant light scattering from the PDMS coating is discussed.     

Heavy-ion induced desorption of deuterium from titanium

The model used in the first part of this investigation is enlarged to take account of the experimentally found inhibition of desorption by gases from the rest-gas atmosphere of the target chamber. The main parameters that can be found by adaptation of a model set of equations are the rate ratios for transfer of chemisorbed atoms in the surface and back, and of the maximal desorption current densities from the surface into the vacuum for deuterium and foreign gases. The desorption cross sections are discussed in relation to the electronic stopping power of the fast ions.     

Excitation of sodium atoms by 330-nm laser pulses

1/2 ) atoms in a dense sodium vapour irradiated by nanosecond laser pulses tuned near the 3S→4P transition was investigated. It was observed that the population of Na(4P) atoms remained high only within the laser pulse, in spite of the relatively long lifetime of the 4P level (110.ns)The 3P_1/2 level, which is populated as a result of cascade transitions from the higher levels, reached the highest population several nanoseconds after the laser shot. The fast population changes are explained by cascade-stimulated transitions between the excited atomic levels. Received: 16 July 1997/Revised version: 27 October 1997     

Atom chip based fast production of Bose–Einstein condensate

We have developed a simple method for the fast and efficient production of a Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) on an atom chip. By using a standard six-beam magneto-optical trap and light-induced atom desorption for loading, 3×10^{7 87}Rb atoms are collected within 1 s and loaded into a small-volume magnetic potential of the chip with high efficiency. With this method, a BEC of 3×10³ atoms is realized within a total time of 3 s. We can realize a condensate of up to 2×10⁴ atoms by reducing three-body collisions. The present system can be used as a fast and high-flux coherent matter-wave source for an atom interferometer. PACS 03.75.Be; 32.80.Pj; 39.25.+k