Radiation trapping in rubidium optical pumping at low buffer-gas pressures

Authors

Mark A. Rosenberry, Siena CollegeFollow
J. P. Reyes, Siena College, Loudonville, New York
D. Tupa, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico
Timothy J. Gay, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

2-1-2007

Comments

Published in PHYSICAL REVIEW A 75, 023401 (2007). Copyright ©2007 The American Physical Society. Used by permission.

Abstract

We have made a systematic study of rubidium optical pumping in a simple cylindrical cell geometry with a high-power 10 W diode laser array, low magnetic fields, and buffer-gas pressures of less than 50 torr. We have determined rubidium polarizations experimentally for H₂, N₂, He, and Ar buffer gases, with Rb number densities from 10¹² to 10¹³ cm^-3. Comparison to a relatively simple optical pumping model allows us to extract useful information about radiation trapping and quenching effects.