Alkali Vapor Research Articles

Existence state and structures of extracted coke and accompanied samples from tuyere zone of a large-scale blast furnace

An in-depth understanding about the existence state and structure of materials in the high-temperature zone of a blast furnace is critical to optimize both the ironmaking blast furnace and many other metallurgical processes based on carbothermic reduction. In the present study, coke as well as other accompanied samples (slag, metal and fines) were extracted from an industrial large-scale blast furnace (BF) tuyere zone and were comprehensively characterized to evaluate their existence state and structure. It was found that the weight percentage of slag and metal in the total extracted samples increases first and then keeps at a relative stable level, while the average coke particle size decreases firstly and then keeps at a relatively small size when the position is closer to the blast furnace center. This indicates that smelting and separation of slag and iron as well as the main coke degradation process occur mainly in the center part of BF, and the state in the region (deadman) is relatively stable with similar permeability. Tuyere cokes with various sizes are all extensively reacted with highly developed pores. Due to the improvement of coke pore size, blast furnace melts (bosh slag or molten coke/coal ash) can migrate into the coke matrix through those connected open pores. Coke carrying slag in its inner pores may enter the iron bath of the BF hearth, which might affect coke dissolution into hot metal and degrade the refractory of the hearth bottom. Alkalis content increase significantly when the distance to the tuyere entrance increases, indicating the alkali vapors are mainly recycled and enriched in the center part of blast furnace. The graphitization of coke in the high temperature zone start from the coke surface and the graphitization process may lead to the formation of coke fines.

Influence of Buffer-Gas Pressure Inside Micro Alkali Vapor Cells on the Performance of Chip-Scale SERF Magnetometers

Spin-exchange-relaxation-free (SERF) optical atomic magnetometers are facing the challenges of dramatic decrease of sensitivity when the alkali vapor cells become small. This paper focuses on the sensitivity improvement of the chip-scale atomic magnetometer (CSAM) by changing buffer-gas pressures inside the microfabricated vapor cells. The rubidium vapor cells with three different buffer-gas pressures were tested in the SERF magnetometer. The influences of vapor cell temperature and pumping laser power on the device sensitivity are also characterized for further optimization. Results show that the three atomic vapor cells, with $N_{2}$ buffer-gas pressure of 0.20, 0.88, and 2.35 amg, have sensitivities of 900, 500, and 150 fT/Hz1/2, respectively. Results indicated that when the alkali vapor cells continue to be smaller, high buffer-gas pressure would provide an effective way to reduce the wall collision and improve the performance of CSAMs.

Signal Tracking Beyond the Time Resolution of an Atomic Sensor by Kalman Filtering.

We study causal waveform estimation (tracking) of time-varying signals in a paradigmatic atomic sensor, an alkali vapor monitored by Faraday rotation probing. We use Kalman filtering, which optimally tracks known linear Gaussian stochastic processes, to estimate stochastic input signals that we generate by optical pumping. Comparing the known input to the estimates, we confirm the accuracy of the atomic statistical model and the reliability of the Kalman filter, allowing recovery of waveform details far briefer than the sensor's intrinsic time resolution. With proper filter choice, we obtain similar benefits when tracking partially known and non-Gaussian signal processes, as are found in most practical sensing applications. The method evades the trade-off between sensitivity and time resolution in coherent sensing.

Gradient heating protocol for a diode-pumped alkali laser

A diode-pumped alkali laser (DPAL) has gained rapid development in the recent years. Until now, the structure with single heater has been widely utilized to adjust the temperature of an alkali vapor cell in most of the literatures about DPALs. However, for an end-pumped DPAL using single heater, most pump energy is absorbed by the gain media near the entrance cell window because of the large absorption cross section of atomic alkali. As a result, the temperature in the pumping area around the entrance window will go up rapidly, especially in a case of high pumping density. The temperature rise would bring about some negative influences such as thermal effects and variations in population density. In addition, light scattering and window contamination aroused by the chemical reaction between the alkali vapor and the buffer gas will also affect the output performance of a DPAL system. To find a solution to these problems, we propose a gradient heating approach in which several heaters are tandem-set along the optical axis to anneal an alkali vapor cell. The temperature at the entrance window is adjusted to be lower than that of the other side. By using this novel scheme, one can not only achieve a homogeneous absorption of the pump energy along the cell axis, but also decrease the possibility of the window damage in a DPAL configuration. The theoretical simulation of the laser output features has been carried out for a configuration of multiple heaters. Additionally, the DPAL output performance under different gradient temperatures is also discussed in this paper. The conclusions might be helpful for development of a high-powered and high-beam-quality DPAL.

High-quality electromagnetically-induced absorption resonances in a buffer-gas-filled vapour cell

Magneto-optical subnatural-linewidth resonances of electromagnetically-induced absorption (EIA) in an alkali vapour cell have been experimentally studied. The observation configuration includes using two counter-propagating pumps and probe light waves with mutually orthogonal linear polarizations, exciting an open optical transition in the 87Rb D1 line in the presence of argon buffer gas. The EIA signals registered in a probe-wave transmission reach an unprecedented contrast of about 135% with respect to the wide ‘Doppler’ absorption pedestal and 29% with respect to the level of background transmission signal. These contrast values correspond to a relatively small resonance full width at half maximum of about 7.2 mG (5.2 kHz). The width of the narrowest EIA resonance observed is about 2.1 mG (1.5 kHz). To our knowledge, such a large relative contrast at the kHz-width is the record result for EIA resonances. In general, the work has experimentally proved that the magneto-optical scheme used has very good prospects for various quantum technologies (quantum sensors of weak magnetic fields, optical switches and other photonic elements).

Detailed computation on exciplex pumped alkali vapor laser with supersonic flow

Calculations on the influence of compressible gas effects on the performances of exciplex pumped alkali vapor lasers (XPALs) with supersonic flow system are made. Modified configuration of experimental apparatus for XPALs is designed in this paper as well. On the basis of fluid mechanics and thermodynamics, theoretical derivations for the boundary of temperature gradient which actually is the position of shock wave plane are firstly deduced and presented. And our simulated results show that XPALs have broadband of not only in absorption spectrum but also in pump power, which will be helpful for researchers to find the way to make very high-power gas lasers. In addition, the simulating method to obtain the operating temperature of XPALs is given, and predicted the value, at the conditions of this paper, is 1500K with optimized parameters of Pp = 3×106 W, Tstag=513 K, initial Mach number = 2.5.

Features of the Magnetic Resonance of an Alkali Metal upon Biharmonic Pumping

The dynamics of spin projections of the electron shell of an alkali metal on the coordinate axis is considered in the electron paramagnetic resonance scheme with continuous pumping by biharmonic circularly polarized laser radiation. The working region is a cell with alkali vapor metal vapors and a buffer gas at a high concentration at temperature 60°C. It was found that the use of biharmonic pumping causes not only the expected electron-spin precession, but also pulsations of the electron-spin projection on the axis along which the magnetic field is directed. The frequency of these pulsations depends on the nuclear angular momentum of alkali metal atoms. In the case of the transverse electron magnetic resonance, this effect is absent.

Investigation of pump-to-seed beam matching on output features of Rb and Cs vapor laser amplifiers

Taking into account the beam radii of pump light and seed laser along the entire length of the cell and their intensities in the cross section, a physical model with ordinary differential equation methods for alkali vapor amplifiers is established. Applied to the reported optically pumped Rb and diode-pumped Cs vapor amplifiers, the model shows good agreement between the calculated and measured dependence of amplified power on the seed power. A larger width of the spontaneous emission region as compared to the widths of pump absorption and laser emission regions, which will result in very high energy losses, is observed in the cell. Influence of pump and seed beam waists on output performance is calculated, showing that the pump and seed beam should match each other not only in shape but also in size, thus an optimal combination of beam radii is very important for efficient operation of alkali vapor amplifiers.

On the importance of electron impact processes in excimer-pumped alkali laser-induced plasmas.

The excimer-pumped alkali laser (XPAL) system has recently been demonstrated in several different mixtures of alkali vapor and rare gas. Without special preventive measures, plasma formation during operation of XPAL is unavoidable. Recent advancements in the availability of reliable data for electron impact collisions with atoms and molecules have enabled development of a complete reaction mechanism to investigate XPAL-induced plasmas. We report on pathways leading to plasma formation in an Ar/C2H6/Cs XPAL sustained at different cell temperatures. We find that depending on the operating conditions, the contribution of electron impact processes can be as little as bringing the excitation of Cs(P2) states to higher level Cs** states, and can be as high as bringing Cs(P2) excited states to a full ionization. Increasing the input pumping power or cell temperature, or decreasing the C2H6 mole fraction leads to electron impact processes dominating in plasma formation over the energy pooling mechanisms previously reported in literature.

Solid-State Electrochemical Bidirectional Alkali Vapor Source for Cold Atom Microsystems

Cold atom microsystems have the potential to bring the precision measurement capabilities of cold atom clocks, gyroscopes, and accelerometers to portable systems and platforms (1). Trapping cold atoms in a vapor cell requires controlling alkali vapor pressure, which is a function of temperature. Using temperature control to control alkali vapor pressure is common in the lab, but requires too much power for portable microsystems. Techniques such as light-induced atomic desorption, pulsed alkali dispensers, and double MOT chambers have also been used to control alkali vapor density in the lab, but none is rapid, bidirectional, low-power, and miniaturizable as needed for portable cold atom microsystems. Solid ion conductors have been used with widely spaced Pt electrodes as alkali sources, but operate at high voltages (≥50V) and elevated temperatures (≥120°C) (2), thus requiring more power that allowable for portable microsystems applications. We present a low-power bidirectional alkali vapor source based on solid-state electrochemistry. The device comprises a solid electrolyte, beta”-alumina, in between two electrodes. One electrode contacts the alkali vapor inside the vapor cell and consists of a uniform 10nm glassy carbon layer covered with widely spaced Pt lines. The other electrode, which serves as a solid-state alkali reservoir, consists of widely space Pt lines and graphite particles. The thin glassy carbon layer getters rubidium until it becomes saturated. When a positive voltage is applied across the device electrodes, alkali atoms in the glassy carbon layer are oxidized and alkali ions transport into the solid electrolyte. This reduces the rubidium concentration in the glassy carbon and, rubidium vapor gettering resumes, causes rubidium vapor pressure reduction. Alkali ions are reduced at the other electrode and alkali atoms are intercalated in the graphite in the solid state alkali reservoir to maintain ion balance in the solid electrolyte. When a negative voltage is applied the process reverses. Alkali ions are reduced at the glassy carbon electrode, thus quickly saturating the glassy carbon with alkali atoms to stop rubidium gettering and further providing additional rubidium to evaporate and increase the rubidium vapor pressure in the vapor cell. Reversible actuation with this device has been demonstrated with voltages as low as 5 V and peak power as low as 3.4 mW. Furthermore, we will present the use of this device in a feedback loop to control Rb vapor density. The ability to electrically control alkali vapor pressure at low power is an enabling advance for cold atom microsystems. This material is based upon work supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific (SSC Pacific) under Contract No. N66001-15-C-4027. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of DARPA or SSC Pacific. 1. J. Kitching, S. Knappe and E. A. Donley, IEEE Sensors J, 11, 1749 (2011). 2. J. J. Bernstein, A. Whale, J. Brown, C. Johnson, E. Cook, L. Calvez, X. Zhang and S. W. Martin, in Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems Workshop, p. 180, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina (2016).

Multi-transverse mode operation of alkali vapor lasers: modeling and comparison with experiments

In high-power diode pumped alkali lasers with stable resonators the radius of the pump beam is usually larger than that of the fundamental laser mode and thus several high order transverse modes of the resonator can participate in the lasing. A simple optical model of multi-transverse mode operation of alkali vapor lasers is reported. The model is based on calculations of the pump and laser beam intensities in the gain medium, where the laser beam intensity is a linear combination of the azimuthally-symmetric Laguerre-Gaussian modes. It was applied to Ti:Sapphire and diode pumped cesium vapor lasers. The model predicts that for low pump power only the fundamental lasing mode oscillates. However, for higher pump powers several transverse modes participate in oscillation. The number and intensities of the oscillating modes as a function of the pump beam power and radius were found. The model predicts linear dependence of the laser power on the pump power, the values of the former being in agreement with the experimental results obtained for diode pumped cesium laser [Electron. Lett.44, 582 (2008)]. The mode-matching efficiency for the multi-transverse mode lasing is ~0.8 - 0.85 which means that in this case almost complete overlap of the laser and pump beams takes place. The laser beam quality factorM2increases with increasing pump power from 1 at the threshold power to 5-6 at maximum values of the pump power resulting in lower beam quality at high powers.

Correlation between chemical composition and alkali attack resistance of bauxite-SiC refractories in cement rotary kiln

Abstract Alkali vapor release during alternative fuel combustion severely attacked bauxite-SiC refractories in cement rotary kiln. The present work investigated the effect of chemical compositions on microstructure, refractoriness under load and alkali attack resistance of bauxite-SiC refractories by the incorporation of different amount of micron sized α-Al 2 O 3 and microsilica powders. Results showed that the addition of α-Al 2 O 3 improved the refractoriness under load of specimens, whereas alkali attack products, e.g. KAlSiO 4 and KAlSi 2 O 6 phases were largely formed in the alumina-rich matrix, leading to the large volume expansion and cracks formation. By comparison, the addition of microsilica resulted in the decrease of refractoriness under load. Moreover, the volume expansion during alkali exposure can be controlled by increasing amounts of microsilica, which was attributed to the fact that less K-aluminosilicate phases mentioned above and more liquid were formed. In this case, the newly formed liquid blocked up some pores and further prevented the penetration of K vapor into the matrix. Alkali attack resistance and refractoriness under load of bauxite-SiC refractories can be balanced when the mole fraction of Al 2 O 3 was approximately 0.6 in the matrix of refractories.

Theoretical investigation on exciplex pumped alkali vapor lasers with sonic-level gas flow

Considering the effects of higher excited and ion energy states and utilizing the methodology in the fluid mechanics, a modified model of exciplex pumped alkali vapor lasers with sonic-level flowing gas is established. A comparison of output characters between subsonic flow and supersonic flow is made. In this model, higher excited and ion energy states are included as well, which modifies the analysis of the kinetic process and introduces larger heat loading in an operating CW exciplex-pumped alkali vapor laser. The results of our calculations predict that subsonic flow has an advantage over supersonic flow under the same fluid parameters, and stimulated emission in the supersonic flow would be quenched while the pump power reaching a threshold value of the fluid choking effect. However, by eliminating the influence of fluid characters, better thermal management and higher optical conversion efficiency can be obtained in supersonic flow. In addition, we make use of the “nozzle-diffuser” to build up the closed-circle flowing experimental device and gather some useful simulated results.

Three-dimensional kinetic and fluid dynamic modeling and three iterative algorithms for side-pumped alkali vapor lasers

Combining the kinetic and fluid dynamic processes in static and flowing-gas diode-pumped alkali vapor lasers, a comprehensive physical model with three cyclically iterative algorithms for simulating the three-dimensional pump and laser intensities as well as temperature distribution in the vapor cell of side-pumped alkali vapor lasers is established. Comparison with measurement of a static side-pumped cesium vapor laser with a diffuse type hollow cylinder cavity, and with classical and modified models is made. Influences of flowed velocity and pump power on laser power are calculated and analyzed. The results have demonstrated that for high-power side-pumped alkali vapor lasers, it is necessary to take into account the three-dimensional distributions of pump energy, laser energy and temperature in the cell to simultaneously obtain the thermal features and output characteristics. Therefore, the model can deepen the understanding of the complete kinetic and fluid dynamic mechanisms of a side-pumped alkali vapor laser, and help with its further experimental design.

A low-power reversible alkali atom source

An electrically controllable, solid-state, reversible device for sourcing and sinking alkali vapor is presented. When placed inside an alkali vapor cell, both an increase and decrease in the rubidium vapor density by a factor of two are demonstrated through laser absorption spectroscopy on 10–15 s time scales. The device requires low voltage (5 V), low power (<3.4 mW peak power), and low energy (<10.7 mJ per 10 s pulse). The absence of oxygen emission during operation is shown through residual gas analysis, indicating that Rb is not lost through chemical reaction but rather by ion transport through the designed channel. This device is of interest for atomic physics experiments and, in particular, for portable cold-atom systems where dynamic control of alkali vapor density can enable advances in science and technology.

Modeling of time evolution of power and temperature in single-pulse and multi-pulses diode-pumped alkali vapor lasers.

A physical model combining rate, power propagation, and transient heat conduction equations for diode-pumped alkali vapor lasers (DPAL) is applied to a pulsed Rb-CH4 DPAL, which agrees well with the time evolution of laser power and temperature measured by K absorption spectroscopy. The output feature and temperature rise of a multi-pulse DPAL are also calculated in the time domain, showing that if we energize the pump light when the temperature rise decays to 1/2, rather than 1/e of its maximum, we can increase the duty cycle and obtain more output energy. The repetition rate of >100Hz is high enough to achieve QCW (quasi-continuous-wave) laser pulses.

High efficiency Raman memory by suppressing radiation trapping

Raman interactions in alkali vapours are used in applications such as atomic clocks, optical signal processing, generation of squeezed light and Raman quantum memories for temporal multiplexing. To achieve a strong interaction the alkali ensemble needs both a large optical depth and a high level of spin-polarisation. We implement a technique known as quenching using a molecular buffer gas which allows near-perfect spin-polarisation of over in caesium vapour at high optical depths of up to a factor of 4 higher than can be achieved without quenching. We use this system to explore efficient light storage with high gain in a GHz bandwidth Raman memory.

Continuous-Wave Alkali Vapor Laser Pumped by a Ti-sapphire Laser with Narrow Linewidth

We have experimentally demonstrated the continuous wave rubidium and cesium lasers pumped by a Ti-sapphire laser with the linewidth of about 5 MHz. The pump and laser beams were orthogonally polarized and they can be separated by a polarized beam splitter (PBS). Two 4-cm-long cells were respectively filled with metallic rubidium and cesium as well as 300 Torr ethane as a buffer gas. A series of output couplers at different cell temperatures have been used and the optimal parameters have been found for earning the highest output. As a result, we have achieved a maximum output power of 111 mW with the optical to optical efficiency of 18.4% for a rubidium laser and a maximum output power of 136 mW with the optical to optical efficiency of 30% for a cesium laser, respectively. By considering there are no anti-reflection coatings on the surfaces of two cell end-windows, the output should be improved if the transmission attenuation is effectively decreased in the future.

Modeling of Steady-State Temperature Distribution in Diode-Pumped Alkali Vapor Lasers: Analysis of the Experimental Results

Combining the first-order ordinary differential equations of pump and laser power and the second-order ordinary differential equation of temperature, an optical model for diode-pumped alkali vapor lasers in two pumped configurations, is reported. This model, taking into account the axial distributions of pump and laser beam radii and the radial distributions of intensities and temperature, shows good agreement between the calculated and experimental results. An observed maximum temperature rise of ~58 K corresponding to a pump power of 20 W is reproduced, and a wide region of heat source density of quenching is predicted by the model. The heat production of relaxation and of quenching are demonstrated to be within an order of magnitude, indicating that quenching is as important as relaxation in the temperature calculation. It can also be deduced that the peak of the temperature profile is mainly dominated by relaxation, whereas its width can be attributed to thermal diffusion and quenching. In addition, dependencies of laser and thermal power on the pump beam waist are calculated, and an optimal ratio of 0.7 between the pump and laser beam waist is obtained.

Modeling of pulsed Cs vapor lasers in transversely pumped configuration

By means of combining the transverse differential equation of pump intensity and the longitudinal differential equation of laser power, an optical model for transversely pumped diode-pumped alkali vapor lasers (DPALs) is established. The spatial distributions of both radius and intensities are considered in the model for pump and laser beams. The simulation results are in good agreement with the experiment ones as compared to the reported pulsed transversely pumped Cs DPALs. Influences of pump power, temperature, cell length, and beam waist on output performance are investigated, which suggests a set of parameters for efficient DPAL operation. In particular, the optimal ratio of the beam waist between the laser and pump beam is demonstrated to be 0.81, which can increase the laser power by 85% larger than the current experimental result.