D2 Line Research Articles

Study of EIT line shape in optically thin and thick media using 87Rb D1 and D2 lines: theory and experiment

In this work, we have presented the variation of the amplitude of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) resonances with the density of the atom in a V-type system using 87Rb D1 and D2 lines both theoretically and experimentally. Up to the value of atomic density 18.1 × 1010 cm−3, the amplitude of the EIT resonance gradually increases with the increase of atomic density and then it decreases with the increase of the density of the atom. We have also found the radiation trapping effect in this experiment. We observe the effect of the atomic density on the electromagnetically induced transparency when the systems act as a thin optical media as well as thick optical media. We have found that the amplitude of EIT also depends on pump laser Rabi frequency. Numerical simulations are agreed well with the experimental observations.

Level-crossing resonances on open atomic transitions in a buffered Cs vapor cell: Linewidth narrowing, high contrast, and atomic magnetometry applications

The ground-state Hanle effect (GSHE) in alkali-metal atomic vapors using a single circularly polarized wave underlies one of the most robust and simplest techniques in atomic magnetometry. This effect causes a narrow (subnatural-width) resonance in the light wave intensity transmitted through a vapor cell. Usually, GSHE-based sensors operate in the spin-exchange-relaxation-free (SERF) regime. However, this regime requires a relatively high temperature of vapors (150 C or higher), leading to a relatively large heat release and power consumption of the sensor head. Besides, without applying special measures, SERF regime significantly limits a dynamic range of measurements. Here, we study a pump-probe scheme involving a single elliptically polarized wave and a polarimetric detection technique. The wave is in resonance with two adjacent optical transitions in the cesium D1 line (894.6 nm) owing to their overlapping in presence of a buffer gas (Ne, 130 Torr). Using a small (0.1 cm$^3$) glass vapor cell, we demonstrate a possibility of observing subnatural-width resonances with a high contrast-to-width ratio (up to 45 %/mG) under a low-temperature (60 C) regime of operation thanks to a strong light-induced circular dichroism. Basing on a $\Lambda$ scheme of atomic energy levels, we obtain explicit analytical expressions for the line shape. The model reveals a linewidth narrowing effect due to openness of the scheme. This result is unusual for magneto-optical atomic spectroscopy because the openness is commonly considered as a undesirable effect, degrading the resonance characteristics. We estimate a sensitivity of 1.8 pT/$\surd$Hz with a 60 fT/$\surd$Hz sensitivity in the photon-shot-noise limit. The results contribute to the theory of GSHE resonances and can be applied to development of a low-temperature high-sensitivity miniaturized magnetic field sensor with an extended dynamic range.

Monomeric prefusion structure of an extremophile gamete fusogen and stepwise formation of the postfusion trimeric state

Here, we study the gamete fusogen HAP2 from Cyanidioschyzon merolae (Cyani), an extremophile red algae that grows at acidic pH at 45 °C. HAP2 has a trimeric postfusion structure with similarity to viral class II fusion proteins, but its prefusion structure has been elusive. The crystal structure of a monomeric prefusion state of Cyani HAP2 shows it is highly extended with three domains in the order D2, D1, and D3. Three hydrophobic fusion loops at the tip of D2 are each required for postfusion state formation. We followed by negative stain electron microscopy steps in the process of detergent micelle-stimulated postfusion state formation. In an intermediate state, two or three linear HAP2 monomers associate at the end of D2 bearing its fusion loops. Subsequently, D2 and D1 line the core of a trimer and D3 folds back over the exterior of D1 and D2. D3 is not required for formation of intermediate or postfusion-like states.

A cold cesium beam source based on a two-dimensional magneto-optical trap

A beam source is proposed for the production of an intense cold cesium atomic beam that can be used in cesium beam atomic clocks. The source is based on a two-dimensional magneto-optical trap (2D-MOT), but introduces hollow cooling and pushing lights in the axial direction to create a 2D+-MOT, which separates the cooling and pushing functions while the low-power pushing light pushes atoms out to form a cold atomic beam. This cold cesium atomic beam source reduces the light shift due to leakage light and retains longitudinal cooling to increase the flux of the cold atomic beam compared with that of the conventional 2D+-MOT scheme. The specifics of the design are investigated, the atomic velocity and beam flux are calculated, and the results are experimentally verified. The results demonstrate that when the power of the pushing light is 180 µW and when its frequency resonates with the 4 → 5′ transition of the Cs D2 line, the most probable longitudinal velocity of the outgoing cold atomic beam, the width of velocity distribution, and the atomic beam flux are 19.38 m/s, 8.1 m/s, and 1.7 × 1010 atoms/s, respectively.

Measurement of the temperature dependency of the linewidths and amplitudes of the sub-Doppler resonances of the 87Rb D2 line with π (π) polarized pump (probe) laser beams

Measurement of the temperature dependency of the linewidths and amplitudes of the sub-Doppler resonances of the 87Rb D2 line with π (π) polarized pump (probe) laser beams

Determination of the partial and total pressures of the mixed gases in atomic vapor cells by optical absorption

We study the partial and total pressures of the mixed gases in a Rb vapor cell from its absorption spectrum under the influence of natural broadening, self-broadening, pressure broadening, the pressure shift, and Doppler broadening. A comprehensive model of the absorption coefficient on the Rb D2 line is developed, which takes into account the influence of multiple gas species. The importance of light intensity selection and frequency calibration to obtain accurate experimental results are discussed. Accurate abundances are deduced from the experimentally measured absorption spectra of vacuum cells and are used to optimize the abundance parameters in our model. We fit the experimentally measured absorption spectrum of a gas-filled cell to the optimized model and obtain a root mean square error better than 0.1%. The extracted partial pressures indicate that the mixture ratio agrees well with the designed value, while the total pressure has an increment of about 17% of its nominal value. We further estimate the amount of helium leakage in a cell to be 89.1 Torr for 6 months. Moreover, using a series of absorption spectra generated by our model as benchmarks, we evaluate the effectiveness of the commonly used single and double Lorentzian fitting models and give some suggestions for using the double Lorentzian model. This study provides a reference for designing the appropriate gas mixture for comagnetometer systems.

Wide range linear magnetometer based on a sub-microsized K vapor cell.

39K atoms have the smallest ground state (2S1/2) hyperfine splitting of all the most naturally abundant alkali isotopes and, consequently, the smallest characteristic magnetic field value B0=A2S1/2/μB≈170G, where A2S1/2 is the ground state's magnetic dipole interaction constant. In the hyperfine Paschen-Back regime (B≫B0, where B is the magnitude of the external magnetic field applied on the atoms), only eight Zeeman transitions are visible in the absorption spectrum of the D1 line of 39K, while the probabilities of the remaining 16 Zeeman transitions tend to zero. In the case of 39K, this behavior is reached already at relatively low magnetic field B>B0. For each circular polarization (σ-,σ+), four spectrally resolved atomic transitions having sub-Doppler widths are recorded using a sub-microsized vapor cell of thickness L=120-390nm. We present a method that allows to measure the magnetic field in the range of 0.1-10kG with micrometer spatial resolution, which is relevant in particular for the determination of magnetic fields with large gradients (up to 3 G/µm). The theoretical model describes well the experimental results.

Frequency Conversion Interface towards Quantum Network: From Atomic Transition Line to Fiber Optical Communication Band

Quantum repeater is a key component of quantum network, and atomic memory is one of the important candidates for constructing quantum repeater. However, the atomic transition wavelength is not suitable for long-distance transmission in optical fiber. To bridge atomic memory and fiber communication, we demonstrate a frequency conversion interface from rubidium D1 line (795 nm) to the optical communication L-band (1621 nm) based on difference frequency generation. To reduce broadband noise of spontaneous Raman scattering caused by strong pumping light, we use a combination of two cascaded etalons and a Fabry-Perot cavity with low finesse to narrow the noise bandwidth to 11.7 MHz. The filtering system is built by common optical elements and is easy to use; it can be widely applied in frequency conversion process. We show that the signal-noise ratio of the converted field is good enough to reduce the input photon number below 1 under the condition of low external device conversion efficiency (0.51%) and large duration of input pulse (250 ns). The demonstrated frequency conversion interface has important potential application in quantum networks.

Active longitudes and starspot evolution of the young rapidly rotating star USNO-B1.0 1388−0463685 discovered in the Yunnan–Hong Kong survey

ABSTRACT We have discovered a young, rapidly rotating active star USNO-B1.0 1388−0463685 with a rotational period of 0.508750 ± 0.000153 d in the Yunnan–Hong Kong wide-field photometric survey. Based on the chromospheric activity identified in the dedicated spectroscopic observations, the brightness variation of this star is attributed to cool spots on its photosphere. We derived the spot maps from 14 light curves, which demonstrate that the strong spot tends to appear in the same hemisphere, and the light curve amplitude varies with a period of about 2.4 yr. Low-resolution spectroscopic observations revealed the chromospheric activity of the star through the indicators Hα, Na i D1 and D2, He i D3, and Ca ii H & K lines. Moreover, there was a clear anticorrelation between the equivalent width variation of the Hα, Na i D1 and D2 lines and the simultaneous light curve, implying the photosphere and chromosphere connection. Using the spectral subtraction technique, the spectral type of the star was determined as K0–2V and its projected rotational velocity v sin i is 107.492 ± 7.388 km s−1. Both the lithium equivalent width of 254.0 ± 43.3 mÅ and its location on the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram indicate that this star should be in the stage from late pre-main sequence to zero-age main sequence.

Magnetic activities on two single-lined RS Canum Venaticorum binaries IM Pegasi and σ Geminorum

ABSTRACT We present the study on continuous high-resolution spectroscopic observations of two long-period single-lined RS Canum Venaticorum (RS CVn) binary stars IM Pegasi (IM Peg) and σ Geminorum (σ Gem), obtained with the Hertzsprung SONG telescope during the 2015–2016 season. Chromospheric activity indicators Hα, $\rm{Na\,\,{\small I}}$ D1, D2 doublet, $\rm{He\,\,{\small I}}$ D3, and Hβ lines have been analysed by using the spectral subtraction technique. The expected chromospheric emission features in the Hα, $\rm{Na\,\,{\small I}}$ D1, D2 doublet, and Hβ lines confirm that both of two stars are very active systems. In the spectra, the $\rm{He\,\,{\small I}}$ D3 line had been always detected in absorption feature. Although the behaviour of chromospheric activity indicators is very similar for both stars, the activity level of IM Peg is much stronger than that of σ Gem. Moreover, the equivalent width variations of the Hα, $\rm{He\,\,{\small I}}$ D3, and Hβ line subtractions correlate well and show different behaviour among different orbital cycles, which indicates the presence and evolution of activity longitudes over the surface of two stars. Furthermore, the subtracted Hα line profile is usually asymmetric. The red-shifted excess absorption features could be interpreted as a strong down-flow of cool absorbing material, while the blue-shifted emission component is probably caused by up-flow of hot materials through microflare events.

Effect of Buffer Gas Influence on Magnetically-Induced Transitions in 87Rb Atoms, D2 Line

Effect of Buffer Gas Influence on Magnetically-Induced Transitions in 87Rb Atoms, D2 Line

Transfer and evolution of structured polarization in a double-V atomic system.

We numerically investigate the transfer of optical information from a vector-vortex control beam to an unstructured probe beam, as mediated by an atomic vapour. The right and left circular components of these beams drive the atomic transitions of a double-V system, with the atoms acting as a spatially varying circular birefringent medium. Modeling the propagation of the light fields, we find that, for short distances, the vectorial light structure is transferred from the control field to the probe. However, for larger propagation lengths, diffraction causes the circular components of the probe field to spatially separate. We model this system for the D1 line of cold rubidium atoms and demonstrate that four wave mixing can lead to correlations between the optical polarization structure and the diffraction of light, generating coupled dynamics of the internal and external degrees of freedom.

Influence of collisional broadening on resonance photoplasma parameters in a sodium-argon mixture

A study of photoplasma parameters in a Na–Ar mixture was carried out in a wide range of Ar pressures, considering the Voigt profile of the D1 and D2 resonance lines of Na in the Biberman-Holstein approximation. The effect of collisional broadening on the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of these lines is analyzed in detail, using the constants of the resonance (Na–Na collision) and van der Waals (Na–Ar collision) line shape broadening. 2D simulations of the main parameters (density of resonance (3p) levels of Na; electron density and temperature; photo-EMF) of the resonance photoplasma in a two-chamber cell at the Na pressure 0.02 Torr and Ar pressure 0.1 − 100 Torr have been carried out. It has been established that the difference between these parameters and previously obtained data for the case of the Doppler contour of the resonant line for the exact geometry of the gas cell and gas pressures is significant. Numerically, it reaches one-two orders of magnitude for the electron density and two times for the electron temperature. Also, a noticeable difference in the electron flux spatial picture in the cell for these two cases has been found. Therefore, it is shown that it is necessary to consider the collisional broadening of the resonance line of Na to determine plasma parameters even for relatively small pressures of Na and Ar. The developed approach and obtained data open up an opportunity to make a quantitative design of a photoelectric converter in a mixture of Na–Ar.

Investigation of the temperature and magnetic field effect on the Cesium D1 atomic line filter characteristics

Atomic spectral line filter is a narrow band pass optical filter which has many applications in quantum and laser systems. By engineering the system parameters like gas temperature and intensity of magnetic field, the filter with desired characteristics could be obtained. In this work, an atomic spectral line filter for Cesium D1 line (894.6nm) is implemented and characterized. The effect of system parameters on the filter transmission and its bandwidth is investigated. It is observed that by applying a magnetic field of 390 Gauss and adjusting the gas cell temperature on 40°C, a single peak filter with maximum filter transmission and FWHM of 0.24 GHz could be obtained.

The Variation of the Linewidths and Amplitudes of Sub-Doppler Resonances of 87Rb D2 Line with Laser Beam Intensity

The sub-Doppler resonances linewidths and amplitudes depend on the laser beam intensity. The effect of laser beam intensity on the resonance linewidths and amplitudes obtained from different energy transitions of atoms varies from resonance to resonance. The effect of laser beam intensity on resonance linewidths and amplitudes is of great importance for diode laser frequency stability applications. It needs to be determined by measuring. The effect of the laser beam intensity on the linewidths and amplitudes of sub-Doppler resonances were measured by laser heterodyne spectroscopy using the linearly polarized frequency stabilized extended cavity diode lasers. The measurements are compatible with the theory and the uncertainty of the measurements are fewer than 1.6 MHz and 0.3 mV for linewidths and amplitudes, respectively.

Comparison of field shifts in an atomic clock based on the effect of coherent population trapping in 87Rb atoms under modulation of laser pump current at frequencies of 3.4 and 6.8 GHz

Experimental parameters of the resonance of coherent population trapping (CTP) on D1 line in 87Rb and light shifts are compared under modulation of the laser pump current at frequencies of 3.4 and 6.8 GHz. Reproducibility of the parameters of a laser with a vertical cavity needed for long-term stability of an atomic clock is considered. The instabilities of atomic CPT-clock obtained for 1 s are 1.2 × 10−11 and 3 × 10−12 for frequencies of 3.4 GHz and 6.8 GHz, respectively.

The Spatial Distribution and Temperature of Mercury's Potassium Exosphere

Aside from the well-studied sodium doublet, the potassium D lines are the only optical emissions in Mercury's exosphere that are amply bright to contrast with the dayside disk. Measurements of the K exosphere are limited compared to Na, but the K regolith abundance is better constrained, so new insights may help to understand surface–exosphere coupling. We use imaging spectroscopy to map the K brightness over Mercury's evening hemisphere, which shows an enhancement at low to midlatitudes, well equatorward of the Na peak. Both Na and K are brighter in the south, but the ratio between northern and southern hemisphere K emission appears less symmetric than that of Na. The disk-averaged Na/K column density ratio is between 70 and 130. During the same night, the dayside emission was mapped, we used a high-resolution spectrograph to attempt to resolve the Na and K line widths on the nightside. Forward-modeling the alkaline line profiles with hyperfine structure gives Na D1 and D2 line widths of 1114 ± 50 K and 1211 ± 45 K, respectively. D2 may appear hotter solely because its higher opacity adds preferentially to the profile wings. The K line width is surprisingly cold and cannot be easily distinguished from the instrumental line width, even at R = 137,500. Line widths roughly constrain K gas between the surface temperature and 1000 K, making it the coldest metallic constituent of Mercury's exosphere. Although Na and K are chemical analogs and often assumed to have similar properties, the results herein illustrate quite different characteristics between these elements in Mercury's exosphere.

Coherent optical processes on Cs D2 line magnetically induced transitions

The increased spectral resolution allowed by the use of extremely thin vapor cells has led to the observation of interesting behavior of alkali transitions when placed in a magnetic field. Particularly, the probabilities of transitions obeying an apparent Fe−Fg≡ΔF=±2 selection rule, referred to as magnetically-induced (MI) transitions, largely increase in the intermediate interaction regime while being null at zero and higher magnetic fields. With an 800 nm-thick Cs vapor cell placed in a field up to 1.5 kG, we show here that the generation of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), realized in Λ-systems involving ΔF=−2 MI transitions, is only possible when both the coupling and probe beams are σ−-circular polarized, demonstrating that EIT is affected by magnetic circular dichroism. A similar rule of thumb can be extrapolated for ΔF=+2 MI transitions and σ+ polarization. Because of the high frequency shift slope (typ. 4 MHz/G), the generation of EIT resonances involving MI transitions is interesting, especially in the context of growing attention towards micro-machined alkali vapor cell sensors.

A vertical cavity surface emitting laser for CPT atomic clock

A polarization-stabilized fundamental mode vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) was developed for a coherent population trapping (CPT) Cs atomic clock. The VCSEL achieved a single stabilized polarization state through a directly-etched surface grating structure on the surface. The device polarization characteristics of different surface grating parameters were analysed using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. For the fundamental transverse mode condition, the lasing wavelength corresponded to the Cs atom’s D1 line. Owing to the polarization-dependent reflectivity of surface gratings, the VCSEL’s orthogonal polarization suppression ratio (OPSR) exceeded 20 dB. Since the surface grating eliminated the degeneracy of the two orthogonal linear polarization fundamental modes, a linewidth of approximately 53 MHz for the VCSEL could be obtained using the delayed self-homodyne method. A 7.6 GHz modulation bandwidth satisfied the atomic clock’s bandwidth requirement. We introduced the directly-etched surface grating VCSEL to the Cs atomic clock, and measured the CPT resonance signal.

Engineering long-range interactions between ultracold atoms with light

Ultracold temperatures in dilute quantum gases opened the way to an exquisite control of matter at the quantum level. Here we focus on the control of ultracold atomic collisions using a laser to engineer their interactions at large interatomic distances. We show that the entrance channel of two colliding ultracold atoms can be coupled to a repulsive collisional channel by the laser light so that the overall interaction between the two atoms becomes repulsive: this prevents them to come close together and to undergo inelastic processes, thus protecting the atomic gases from unwanted losses. We illustrate such an optical shielding (OS) mechanism with 39K and 133Cs atoms colliding at ultracold temperature (<1 μK). The process is described in the framework of the dressed-state picture and we then solve the resulting stationary coupled Schrödinger equations. The role of spontaneous emission and photoinduced inelastic scattering is also investigated as possible limitations of the shielding efficiency. We predict an almost complete suppression of inelastic collisions over a broad range of Rabi frequencies and detunings from the 39K D2 line of the OS laser, both within the [0, 200 MHz] interval. We found that the polarization of the shielding laser has a minor influence on this efficiency. This proposal could easily be formulated for other bialkali-metal pairs as their long-range interaction are all very similar to each other.