Rubidium vapor cell miniaturization-influence on the optical pumping process

We present a comparative study of the optical pumping process in four natural mixture Rb cells with different level of miniaturization. The influence of 2 Torr Ne gas added as buffer on the optical pumping is estimated using the fluorescence spectra on the Rb D₂-line obtained by tunable single-mode circularly-polarized diode laser. The obtained results provide basic information for optimization of alkali-cell dimensions and buffer gas pressure for further coherent spectroscopy based applications.