Determination of atomic density and collisional broadening of an alkali vapor by resonant interferometry

Abstract

We investigate the determination of atomic density and collisional broadening for a heated cesium vapor. The proposed technique is based on the interferometric signal between multiple reflections from the windows of the alkali vapor cell and is very sensitive to the atomic density determination. We have measured the collisional broadening of the cesium D2 line and found a broadening rate with atomic density of Hz cm3, in agreement with values previously reported in literature.