Scattering of an alkali atomic beam on anti-spin-relaxation-coatings

Abstract

We performed scattering experiments using a rubidium (Rb) atomic beam on paraffin films and measured the angular and velocity distributions of scattered atoms. The paraffin films were prepared in various ways and characterized by atomic force microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The films exhibited various roughnesses and crystal structures. The paraffin films preserved the spin polarization of the scattered atoms. The measured angular distributions of all prepared films were consistent with Knudsen's cosine law. The velocity distributions were well fitted by Maxwell's distribution, characterized by a temperature much closer to the film temperature than to the atomic-beam temperature. We therefore concluded that the Rb atoms were well thermalized with the paraffin films via single scattering events.

arXiv comment18 pages, 10 figures, to be submitted to Physical Review A

References in corpus (6)

• Optical Magnetometry
• Experimental demonstration of quantum memory for light
• Anti-Parity-Time Symmetric Optics via Flying Atoms
• Investigation of microwave transitions and nonlinear magneto-optical rotation in anti-relaxation-coated cells
• Atom Interferometry in a Warm Vapor
• Non-negligible collisions of alkali atoms with background gas in buffer-gas-free cells coated with paraffin

Cited by in corpus (7)

• Near source fluorescence spectroscopy for miniaturized thermal atomic beams
• Measurement of the temperature dependence of dwell time and spin relaxation probability of Rb atoms on paraffin surfaces using a beam-scattering method
• Surface scattering of atoms for high-sensitivity spectroscopy
• Detection of radiation torque exerted on an alkali-metal vapor cell
• Spin-dependent metastable He ($2^{3}S$) atom scattering from ferromagnetic surfaces: Potential application to polarized-gas production
• Hyperfine transition induced by atomic motion above a paraffin-coated magnetic film
• Measurement of the total spin angular momentum <Fz> of alkali-metal atoms