Light-induced atomic desorption and diffusion of Rb from porous alumina

Abstract

We present the first study of light induced atom desorption (LIAD) of an alkali atom (Rb) in porous alumina. We observe the variation due to LIAD of the rubidium density in a vapor cell as a function of illumination time, intensity and wavelength. The simple and regular structure of the alumina pores allows a description of the atomic diffusion in the porous medium in which the diffusion constant only depends on the known pore geometry and the atomic sticking time to the pore wall. A simple one-dimensional theoretical model is presented which reproduces the essential features of the observed signals. Fitting of the model to the experimental data gives access to the diffusion constant and consequently the atom-wall sticking time and its dependence on light intensity and wavelength. The non-monotonic dependence of the LIAD yield on the illumination light frequency is indicative of the existence of Rb clusters in the porous medium.

References in corpus (4)

• Low-Light-Level Optical Interactions with Rubidium Vapor in a Photonic Bandgap Fiber
• UV light-induced atom desorption for large rubidium and potassium magneto-optical traps
• Loading a vapor cell magneto-optic trap using light-induced atom desorption
• Controlling atomic vapor density in paraffin-coated cells using light-induced atomic desorption

Cited by in corpus (5)

• The Feasibility of a Fully Miniaturized Magneto-Optical Trap for Portable Ultracold Quantum Technology
• Ultrahigh and persistent optical depths of caesium in Kagomé-type hollow-core photonic crystal fibres
• Laser driven self-assembly of shape-controlled potassium nanoparticles in porous glass
• Efficiency of photodesorption of Rb atoms collected on polymer organic film in vapor-cell
• Photo-induced modifications of the substrate-adsorbate interaction in K-loaded porous glass