arXiv subjects

Vasant Natarajan

Publications and source records attributed to Vasant Natarajan.

64 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2002

Precise fine-structure and hyperfine-structure measurements in Rb

We demonstrate a new technique for measuring the absolute frequencies of atomic transitions. The technique uses a ring-cavity resonator whose length is calibrated using a reference laser locked to the D_2 line in {87}Rb. The frequency of this line is known to be 384 230 484.468(10) MHz. Using a second laser locked to the D_1 line of Rb, we measure the frequencies of various hyperfine transitions in the D_1 and D_2 lines with a precision of 30 kHz. We obtain the following values: 120.687(17) MHz and 406.520(25) MHz for the 5P_{1/2} hyperfine constant A in {85}Rb and {87}Rb; 377 107 385.623(50) MHz and 377 107 463.209(50) MHz for the D_1 line in {85}Rb and {87}Rb; and 384 230 406.528(50) MHz for the D_2 line in {85}Rb. This yields the fine-structure interval and the isotope shifts. The precision obtained is a significant improvement over previous measurements.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2002

Laser cooling and trapping of Yb from a thermal source

We have successfully loaded a magneto-optic trap for Yb atoms from a thermal source without the use of a Zeeman slower. The source is placed close to the trapping region so that it provides a large flux of atoms that can be cooled and captured. The atoms are cooled on the ${^1S_0} \leftrightarrow {^1P_1}$ transition at 398.8 nm. We have loaded all seven stable isotopes of Yb into the trap. For the most abundant isotope ($^{174}$Yb), we load more than $10^7$ atoms into the trap within 1 s. For the rarest isotope ($^{168}$Yb) with a natural abundance of only 0.13%, we still load about $4 \times 10^5$ atoms into the trap. We find that the trap population is maximized near a detuning of $-1.5Γ$ and field gradient of 75 G/cm.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2002

Precise measurement of hyperfine intervals using avoided crossing of dressed states

We demonstrate a technique for precisely measuring hyperfine intervals in alkali atoms. The atoms form a three-level $Λ$ system in the presence of a strong control laser and a weak probe laser. The dressed states created by the control laser show significant linewidth reduction. We have developed a technique for Doppler-free spectroscopy that enables the separation between the dressed states to be measured with high accuracy even in room-temperature atoms. The states go through an avoided crossing as the detuning of the control laser is changed from positive to negative. By studying the separation as a function of detuning, the center of the level-crossing diagram is determined with high precision, which yields the hyperfine interval. Using room-temperature Rb vapor, we obtain a precision of 44 kHz. This is a significant improvement over the current precision of ~ 1 MHz.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2002

Precise frequency measurements of the D-lines and fine-structure interval in K

We use a diode laser locked to a Rb transition as the frequency reference along with a scanning Michelson interferometer to make precise measurements on the $D_1$ and $D_2$ lines of potassium. The Rb reference frequency is known with sub-MHz accuracy. We obtain the following values for the energy levels: 12 985.169 60(13)(15) cm$^{-1}$ for the $4P_{1/2}$ state ($D_1$ line); 13 042.875 95(14)(15) cm$^{-1}$ for the $4P_{3/2}$ state ($D_2$ line); and 57.706 35(19)(15) cm$^{-1}$ for the $4P_{3/2}-4P_{1/2}$ fine-structure interval. The leading source of systematic error cancels in the determination of the interval. The errors represent about an order of magnitude improvement over tabulated values.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2002

Observation of sub-natural linewidths for cold atoms in a magneto-optic trap

We have studied the absorption of a weak probe beam through cold rubidium atoms in a magneto-optic trap. The absorption spectrum shows two peaks with the smaller peak having linewidth as small as 28% of the natural linewidth. The modification happens because the laser beams used for trapping also drive the atoms coherently between the ground and excited states. This creates ``dressed'' states whose energies are shifted depending on the strength of the drive. Linewidth narrowing occurs due to quantum coherence between the dressed states. The separation of the states increases with laser intensity and detuning, as expected from this model.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2002

Frequency locking of tunable diode lasers to a stabilized ring-cavity resonator

We demonstrate a technique for locking the frequency of a tunable diode laser to a ring-cavity resonator. The resonator is stabilized to a diode laser which is in turn locked to an atomic transition, thus giving it absolute frequency calibration. The ring-cavity design has the principal advantage that there is no feedback destabilization of the laser. The cavity has a free-spectral range of 1.3 GHz and $Q$ of about 35, which gives robust locking of the laser. The locked laser is able to track large scans of the cavity.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2002

High-accuracy wavemeter based on a stabilized diode laser

We have built a high-accuracy wavelength meter for tunable lasers using a scanning Michelson interferometer and a reference laser of known wavelength. The reference laser is a frequency stabilized diode laser locked to an atomic transition in Rb. The wavemeter has a statistical error per measurement of 5 parts in $10^7$ which can be reduced considerably by averaging. Using a second stabilized diode laser, we have verified that systematic errors are below 4 parts in $10^8$.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2002

Direct measurement of the fine-structure interval in alkali atoms using diode lasers

We demonstrate a technique for directly measuring the fine-structure interval in alkali atoms using two frequency-stabilized diode lasers. Each laser has a linewidth of order 1 MHz and precise tunability: one laser is tuned to a hyperfine transition in the D_1 line, and the other laser to a hyperfine transition in the D_2 line. The outputs of the lasers are fed into a scanning Michelson interferometer that measures the ratio of their wavelengths accurately. To illustrate the technique, we measure the fine-structure interval in Rb, and obtain a value of 237.6000(3)(5) cm^-1 for the hyperfine-free 5P_{3/2} - 5P_{1/2} interval.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2002

Loading of a Rb magneto-optic trap from a getter source

We study the properties of a Rb magneto-optic trap loaded from a commercial getter source which provides a large flux of atoms for the trap along with the capability of rapid turn-off necessary for obtaining long trap lifetimes. We have studied the trap loading at two different values of background pressure to determine the cross-section for Rb--N$_2$ collisions to be 3.5(4)x10^{-14} cm^2 and that for Rb--Rb collisions to be of order 3x10^{-13} cm^2. At a background pressure of 1.3x10^{-9} torr, we load more than 10^8 atoms into the trap with a time constant of 3.3 s. The 1/e lifetime of trapped atoms is 13 s limited only by background collisions.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2002

Sub-natural linewidth in room-temperature Rb vapor using a control laser

We demonstrate two ways of obtaining sub-natural linewidth for probe absorption through room-temperature Rb vapor. Both techniques use a control laser that drives the transition from a different ground state. The coherent drive splits the excited state into two dressed states (Autler-Townes doublet), which have asymmetric linewidths when the control laser is detuned from resonance. In the first technique, the laser has a large detuning of 1.18 GHz to reduce the linewidth to 5.1 MHz from the Doppler width of 560 MHz. In the second technique, we use a counter-propagating pump beam to eliminate the first-order Doppler effect. The unperturbed probe linewidth is about 13 MHz, which is reduced below 3 MHz (0.5 Γ) at a detuning of 11.5 MHz.

physics.atom-ph↗