Effect of hyperfine splitting on light-induced drift

Abstract

The influence of the hyperfine structure (hfs) of the levels upon the light-induced drift (LID) effect is investigated. It is shown that hfs considerably affects the dependence of the LID velocity upon the radiation frequency. It is concluded that for decreasing separation between the hfs components the LID effect can both increase and decrease depending upon the relationship of the system parameters (collision frequencies in different levels, the pressure of a buffer gas, etc.). A considerable decrease of the effect however is highly unlikely. It is shown that a change in the buffer gas pressure can lead to reversal of the LID velocity direction.