Competition between Factors Determining Bright versus Dark Atomic States within a Laser Mode

Abstract

We observe bimodal fluorescence patterns from atoms in a fast atomic beam when the laser excitation occurs in the presence of a magnetic field and the atoms sample only a portion of the laser profile. The behavior is well explained by competition between the local intensity of the laser, which tends to generate a coherent-population-trapping (CPT) dark state in the $J=1$ to $J^{\prime }=0$ system, and the strength of an applied magnetic field that can frustrate the CPT process. This work is relevant for understanding and optimizing the detection process for clocks or other coherent systems utilizing these transitions and could be applicable to in situ calibration of the laser-atom interaction, such as the strength of the magnetic field or laser intensity at a specific location.

References in corpus (6)

• Destabilization of dark states and optical spectroscopy in Zeeman-degenerate atomic systems
• Rabi oscillations and excitation trapping in the coherent excitation of a mesoscopic frozen Rydberg gas
• Ramsey-Bordé matter-wave interferometry for laser frequency stabilization at $10^{-16}$ frequency instability and below
• Dark-state suppression and optimization of laser cooling and fluorescence in a trapped alkaline-earth-metal single ion
• Shelving spectroscopy of the strontium intercombination line
• Vapor-cell frequency reference for short-wavelength transitions in neutral calcium