Abstract
We present a technique for mapping the complete 3D spatial intensity profile of a laser beam from its fluorescence in an atomic vapour. We propagate shaped light through a rubidium vapour cell and record the resonant scattering from the side. From a single measurement we obtain a camera limited resolution of 200 × 200 transverse points and 659 longitudinal points. In constrast to invasive methods in which the camera is placed in the beam path, our method is capable of measuring patterns formed by counterpropagating laser beams. It has high resolution in all 3 dimensions, is fast and can be completely automated. The technique has applications in areas which require complex beam shapes, such as optical tweezers, atom trapping and pattern formation.
Highlights
Laser beams with increasingly intricate and complex profiles have become interesting for a range of applications
We present a technique for mapping the complete 3D spatial intensity profile of a laser beam from its fluorescence in an atomic vapour
We propagate shaped light through a rubidium vapour cell and record the resonant scattering from the side
Summary
Laser beams with increasingly intricate and complex profiles have become interesting for a range of applications. Particles from the micron size range down to single atoms can be trapped by the dipole forces produced from light beams [1, 2] These forces have been exploited in optical tweezers [3], allowing micro manipulation of beads and biological matter which would otherwise be impossible. In order to verify the accuracy of the beam generation traditional methods would require stepping a camera in the beam path followed by reconstruction [14, 15]. This method suffers from several drawbacks: The beam axis distance can be difficult to measure accurately, the process is manual and slow and it is clearly ineffective at imaging beam structures created by interference of counter-propagating laser beams. We present here an alternative method which avoids these issues
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