Coherent Population Trapping

Coherent-population-trapping resonances within the degenerate two-level system of the F=2→F'=1 transition of the 87 Rb D1 line were investigated in an uncoated Rb vapor cell by means of level-crossing-type experiments. Tuning over the two-photon resonance is achieved sweeping a magnetic field around zero value. The influence of transverse magnetic fields on the amplitude and the width of the resonances, recorded in fluorescence and absorption, were investigated in the cases of excitation with linear, circular, and elliptical laser light polarization. A theoretical analysis was performed for the case of linearly polarized excitation, the results of which are in good agreement with the experiment.

The Doppler effect is one of the dominant broadening mechanisms in thermal vapor spectroscopy. For two-photon transitions one would naively expect the Doppler effect to cause a residual broadening, proportional to the wave-vector difference. In coherent population trapping (CPT), which is a narrow-band phenomenon, such broadening was not observed experimentally. This has been commonly attributed to frequent velocity-changing collisions, known to narrow Doppler-broadened one-photon absorption lines (Dicke narrowing). Here we show theoretically that such a narrowing mechanism indeed exists for CPT resonances. The narrowing factor is the ratio between the atom's mean free path and the wavelength associated with the wave-vector difference of the two radiation fields. A possible experiment to verify the theory is suggested.

The Ramsey method has been applied by means of optical coherent population trapping (CPT) pulses through a cesium vapor cell with N2 buffer gas at room temperature, using two phase-locked lasers. With this method, CPT resonance spectral widths are no longer limited by optical saturation and collision effects, but only depend on free evolution time between the two pulses. A

Electromagnetically induced transparency and coherent population trapping were observed in a hot (1000 K) calcium vapor embedded into an electrical gas discharge. Unexpectedly large transparencies (of up to 70%) were observed under very unfavorable conditions: probe wavelength shorter than the coupling wavelength, and coupling Rabi frequency significantly smaller than the residual Doppler linewidth of the two photon transition. We developed

We present a coherent population trapping based scheme to attain sub-nanoscale resolution for atom localization, microscopy and lithography. Our method uses three-level atoms coupled to amplitude modulated probe field and spatially dependent drive field. The modulation of the probe field allows us to tap into the steep dispersion normally associated with electromagnetically induced transparency and offers an avenue to attain sub-nanometer resolution using just optical fields. We illustrate application of the techniques to the area of microscopy and lithography and show how multilevel schemes offer the possibility of improving resolution further.

We describe the dual-frequency and dual-polarization emission of a diode-pumped vertical external-cavity semiconductor laser at 852 nm dedicated to the coherent population trapping of cesium atoms. The output power reaches ${\sim}{\rm 20}~{\rm mW}$ on each frequency, with a frequency difference in the gigahertz range.

Near the threshold for electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) or coherent population trapping (CPT), two-photon-resonance-enhanced self-focusing of a Lambda system can be exploited to induce spatial confinement in a second, diffracting Lambda system. The diffracting Lambda system is characterized by parameters below the EIT or CPT threshold, and the two Lambda systems must be coupled to form a closed-loop double- Lambda

We present the first experimental observation of Coherent Population Trapping (CPT) in Potassium, obtained with kHz-frequency modulation of the laser light amplitude. It is performed by acousto-optical amplitude modulation of the radiation from an external cavity diode laser, matching the D1 line of K. The CPT resonances are detected both through K absorption and fluorescence. The resonances are studied in three kinds of K cells: i) pure-evacuated, ii) polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-coated-evacuated and iii) Ne-gas buffered. In all cases CPT-resonance narrowing with cell temperature is observed. In the pure-evacuated cell we registered the lowest contrast and the highest width of the resonance, while in buffered/coated cells a strong enhancement of the CPT resonance contrast up to 15% is observed. This behavior is the opposite to the one exhibited by Cs and Rb. The observed contrast enhancement in K is accompanied by more than two orders of magnitude reduction of the resonance width. The results here presented prove the advantage of using Potassium in CPT-based applications.

We present the results of an experimental study of Coherent Population Trapping (CPT) in potassium, obtained by means of modulation of laser light amplitude with kHz frequency. The radiation from an external cavity diode laser, matching the D1 line of K, is modulated by an acousto-optical modulator. In the cell containing buffer gas, the CPT resonance width is reduced more than three orders of magnitude as compared to the cell containing pure potassium vapor. In K this resonance narrowing occurs with high resonance contrast; such behavior is not observed in buffered cells containing Rb or Cs, where the optical pumping to the non-interacting with the light ground level is very effective and depletes the population of the working ground Zeeman sublevels. The narrow CPT resonance of reduced fluorescence transforms to the one of enhanced fluorescence with the cell temperature rising. The transformed resonance exhibits higher contrast and lower width than those of the reduced fluorescence resonance. Hence, beside its scientific importance the resonance sign reversal can be used for the improvement of the CPT resonance parameters.

We consider the coherent population trapping phenomenon in a thermal sodium atomic beam. We compare the different coherent population trapping schemes that can be established on the D1 line using the Zeeman sublevels of a given ground hyperfine state. The coherent population trapping preparation is examined by means of a Hanle effect configuration. The efficiency of the coherent population trapping phenomenon has been examined in presence of optical pumping into hyperfine levels external to those of the excited transition. We show that both the contrast and the width of the coherent population trapping resonance strongly decrease when the optical pumping rate is increased. In the experiment, the loss rate due to optical pumping has been controlled by means of a laser repump of variable intensity.

An automated magnetometer suitable for long lasting measurement under stable and controllable experimental conditions has been implemented. The device is based on Coherent Population Trapping (CPT) produced by a multi-frequency excitation. CPT resonance is observed when a frequency comb, generated by diode laser current modulation, excites Cs atoms confined in a $\pi/4\times(2.5)^2\times1 \textrm{cm}^3$, 2 Torr $N_2$ buffered cell. A fully optical sensor is connected through an optical fiber to the laser head allowing for truly remote sensing and minimization of the field perturbation. A detailed analysis of the CPT resonance parameters as a function of the optical detuning has been made in order to get high sensitivity measurements. The magnetic field monitoring performances and the best sensitivity obtained in a balanced differential configuration of the sensor are presented.

Atomic response to a probe beam can be tailored, by creating coherences between atomic levels with help of another beam. Changing parameters of the control beam will change the nature of coherences and hence the nature of atomic response as well. Such change can depend upon intensity of both probe and control beams, in a nonlinear fashion. We present a situation where this nonlinearity in dependence can be precisely controlled, as to obtain different variations as desired. We also present a detailed analysis of how this nonlinear dependency arises and show that this is an interesting effect of several Coherent Population Trap(CPT) states that exist and a competition among them to trap atomic population in them.