Optical Pumping of Rubidium

Ryan Frazier

Contents
1 Prelab 1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2 Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3 Theoretical Analysis . . . . . . . . . . 1.3.1 Structure of Alkali Atoms . . . 1.3.2 Optical Pumping in Rubidium 2 2 3 4 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 7 7 7 8 9 10 10 12 13 13 13 13

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2 Absorption of Rb resonance radiation by atomic Rb 2.1 Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 Data Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2.1 Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2.2 Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2.3 Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3 Postlab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3.1 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3.2 Error Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Low Field Resonances 3.1 Procedure . . . . . . . 3.2 Data Analysis . . . . . 3.2.1 Data . . . . . . 3.2.2 Calculations . . 3.2.3 Analysis . . . . 3.3 Postlab . . . . . . . . 3.3.1 Discussion . . . 3.3.2 Error Analysis

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Chapter 1

Prelab
1.1 Introduction

Optical pumping is a process which uses photons to redistribute the states occupided by a collection of atoms. For example, an isolated collection of atoms will occupy energy states as shown by a standard thermal distribution. However, one can apply resonance radion to alter the distribution of atoms among these states. The atom being optically pumped in this experiment is Rubidium, which is enclosed in a system along with Neon, for stability. Optical pumping is important due to it being the basis for all lasers. For example. a HeNe laser uses Optically pumped Helium and Neon Gas chambers to create a very narrow bandwidth laser emition at 633nm.

1.2

Equipment

Rubidium Discharge Lamp-The RUbidium discharge lampe consists of an RF oscillator, oven, and gas bulb. the gas bulb is lled wil a little Rubidium metal and a buer gas. The bulb sits within the coil of the oscillator. Photodiode Detector- The detector is a silicon photodiode. The active area of the diode is circular with a diameter of 1 4 inch. Optics Plano-Convex Lens- Usedto minize spherical abbations andd focus the light from the discharge lamp Interference lter- used to eliminate the 780nm band emitted from the discharge lamp Linear Polarizers- linearly polarizes the light so that it can then be circularly polarized by the quarter wave plate. Wave plates have no eect on unpolarized light due to them creating a phase retardation. Quarter Wave Plate- The quarter wave plate allows linearly polarized light to be converted into elliptically polarized light, if the linear polarization is at a 45 degree angle to the wave plate axis, the light will be circularly polarized. Controller Box- The controller box is used to monitor eld currents and Rubidium temperature. It also can sweep the horizontal magnetic eld and set the Main Field current value.

Figure 1.1: Experiment Equipment, Controller Box (left) and experiment set up and calibrated (right)

1.3
1.3.1

Theoretical Analysis
Structure of Alkali Atoms

These experiments study the absorption of light by rubidium atom. During theoretical analysis the atomic structure of Rubidium will be used. In the quantum mechanical picture, atoms are described by a central eld approximateion where the nucleus is a point particle characterized by its charge, spin, electric moment and magnetic moment. The energy levels are described by wave functions that arrise from perturbations of the Schroedinger equation. For Alkali atoms, the angular momenta eigenstates are coupled in a Russell-Sauders coupling scheme, leading to energy eigenstate solutions close to the observed values. Rubidium acts very similar to the hydrogen atom due to it having only a single valance electron, the electron conguration of Rubidium is 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d10 4s2 4p6 5s1 (1.1)

The outer electron can be described by an orbital angular momentum L, a spin angular momentum S, and a total non-nuclear angular momentum J, all of which are in units of h . The total angular momentum can be written as J=L+S (1.2)

To accurately calculate the energy levels one has to consider the dipole moments associated with the spin and angular momentum. This nuclear spin causes what is known as a hyperne splitting, to furthere dierentiat between energy levels. Figure 1.2 shows a pictoral diagram of hyperne splitting.

Figure 1.2: Pictoral Diagram of Hyperne splitting for rubidium A weak external magnetic eld applied to the energy levels will produce the Zeeman eect, and will result in further splitting energy levels. The Hamiltonian for this eect is H = haI J j I J B I B J I (1.3)

1.3.2

Optical Pumping in Rubidium

Optical Pumping is a method of driving an ensemble of atoms away from thermodynamic equilibrium by means of the resonant absorption of light. Rubidium resonance radiation is passed through a heated absorption cell containing rubidium metal and a buer gas. Resonance light is produced by an RF discharge lamp containing zenon gans and a small amount of rubidium metail, which has been enriched in RB 87 such that there are equal amount of natural Rb and Rb87 .

Chapter 2

Absorption of Rb resonance radiation by atomic Rb

In this esperiment, an approximate measurement of the cross-section for the absorption of rubidum resonance radiation by atomic rubidium was made. The measured value is then compared with the geometric crosssection and the value calculated from theory

2.1

Procedure

1. The apparatus was arranged as shown in gure 2.1, however all polarization elements were removed. This left the Focussing lenses and the interference lter in the Optical setup.

Figure 2.1: Schematic of Optical Pumping, curtousy of umn.edu 2. The cell heater was set to 300k, after waiting approximately a half hour, thermal equilibrium was established in the setup. 3. Using the controller box and high sensitivity voltmeters, the intensity of the optical signal was measured and recorded 4. The optical signal intensity was recorded for a set of temperatures ranging from 300k-400k 5. The data series measured in step 3 was repeated ve times and averaged for accuracy

2.2
2.2.1

Data Analysis
Data
I = aeb (2.1)

The desired nonlinear t is modelled below. In order to get the voltage data to t, an oset voltage was removed from all measurements, this is recommended by the lab manual, as the component on the equation that is of interest is the value of b, which is independant of a vertical oset. The corrected voltaged are recorded in table 2.1 and plotted in gure 2.2. Temperature t, (K) 300 310 320 330 340 350 360 370 380 390 400 Trial 1 T1 (v) 1.37820 1.18880 0.84600 0.48847 0.30238 0.17515 -0.00832 0.03350 -0.07016 0.00190 0.04308 Trial 2 T2 (v) 1.51608 1.15152 0.98387 0.59720 0.45906 0.09503 -0.02441 -0.04123 -0.00658 0.00219 0.07003 Trial 3 T3 (v) 1.46630 1.13428 0.93302 0.48524 0.44098 0.02941 0.01711 0.08821 -0.10946 -0.05636 0.06050 Trial 4 T4 (v) 1.45622 1.13986 0.88245 0.52190 0.41486 0.02823 0.00562 0.07772 0.01749 -0.09579 -0.00504 Trial 5 T5 (v) 1.55161 1.14845 0.99846 0.58480 0.47070 0.21555 -0.05398 0.08190 0.01013 0.04650 -0.08455

Table 2.1:

Figure 2.2: Plot of the nonlinear t for the ve trials

The nonlinear tted models, as well as b values are recorded in table 2.2. These models were recovered using Mathematicas NonlinearModelFit command. using the B values, and knowing the absorption path length is 0.025m, one is able to calculate the value for the cross section for absorption, also plotted in table 2.2 Trial 1 2 3 4 5 Avg Fitted Model 1.37369E 0.0501849 1.39232E 0.0367209 1.38262E 0.0442219 1.37131E 0.0442831 1.39057E 0.0343622 b-Value 0.0501849 0.0367209 0.0442219 0.0442831 0.0343622 0.0419546 cross section , (m2 ) 2.00740 1016 1.46884 1016 1.76888 1016 1.77132 1016 1.37449 1016 1.67818 1016

Table 2.2:

2.2.2

Calculations

Calculating the nonlinear regression The nonlinear regression was calculated using Mathematicas NonlinearModelFit function. The t was only applied to voltages where the Rubidium container was not optically thick. Calculating Cross sectional area The equation for the cross sectional area of the absorption is given as l = b (2.2)

where l is the length of the absorption path, and be is calculated from the nonlinear t of the data plot. This calculation was carried out using mathematica due to its repative nature.

2.2.3

Analysis

The data is in agreement with that of the lab manual, where the cross sections were theoretical and experimentally calculated to be 15 1016 and 1.6 1016 respectively. The Cross section is a function of the frequency distribution in the absorption prole of the rubidium atom, and the intensity of the absorbed light will depend on the relationship of the intensity prole of the incident light to the absorption prole of the atom.

2.3
2.3.1

Postlab
Discussion

The purpose of the experiment was to calculate the cross section due to experiments. Our experimentally calculated cross section came to 1.68 1016 . This is in close agreement with the manuals experimental value; however, it is a whole order of magnitude dierent than the theoretically calculated value. This error is examined in the next section.

2.3.2

Error Analysis

The measured cross-section is about 10 times smaller than that which is calculated in theory. Sources of error for our measurement is the repad variation of the density of rubidium atoms in the cell as a function of temperature. This is a source of considerable error. Also

Chapter 3

Low Field Resonances

For the Low Field Resonance experiments, it is necesary to apply a weak magnetic eld along the optical axis of the apparatus. One has to make sure that the residual magnetic eld is as close to zero as possible. In order to observe the zero-eld transition, no RF is applied and the magnetic eld is swept slowly around zero. This is accomplished by varying the current in the sweep windings. There are two isotopes of rubidium, and they have dieren nuclear spins. the goal of this experiment is to measure those spins by measuring the gf values fomr which the spins can be calculated. This is done by measuring a single resonant frequency of each isotope at a known value of the magnetic eld. The magnetic eld will be determined approximatedl from teh geometry of the eld coils. Only the Sweep coils will be used for this experiment, their parameters are given in table 3.1. Mean radius (m) Turns per side 0.1639 11 B (Gauss) 8.991 103 IN/R

Table 3.1:

3.1

Procedure
The current in the sweep coils was adjusted to center on the zero eld resonance, and the current was measured. The value of current was plugged the equation in table 3.1.

1. The residual magnetic eld at the location of the absorption cell was determined.

2. An RF signal was applied, its amplitude set to an arbritary value. 3. The frequency of the RF signal was set to 150kHz. 4. The horizontal magnetic eld was swept, slowly increasing from zero, searching for zeeman resonance. zeeman resonances show up as troughs in the oscilloscope trace, see gure 3.1.

Figure 3.1: Oscilloscope image showing Zeeman Resonances 5. The characteristics of teh RF transistions were measured as a function of the amplitude of the RF magnetic eld, the value that provides optimum transition probability was derived. 6. With the main coils still disconnected, the transition frequencies of each isotope was measured as a function of sweep coil current. The results were plotted to determine that the resonance are linear in the magnetic eld. 7. From the slope of the plots the ratio fo the gf factors was determined. This value was compared to the ratio predicted by theory. 8. The sweep coils were calibrated using the known gf values and the previous measurements. From the prior measurements, the magnetic eld was calculated for each isotape from the resonance equation The magnetic eld was plotted vs. the current in the sweep coils. This date was t to a straight line using a linear regression to obtain an equation for the magnetic eld vs. current. 9. The Main eld was calibrated for further experiments The main coils were connected so that their eld is in the same direction as that of the sweep coils. Both sets of coils were used to make measurements at resonance frequencies up to 1MHz The sweep coil calibration was used to correct the measured elds for the residual eld. The data was plotted on a linear plot, a linear regression was used to obtain the best t. 9

3.2
3.2.1

Data Analysis
Data

Residual Field The zero eld resonance was found at a current of I=0.29807 Amps. From this and the equation in Table 3.1, the residual eld is calculated to be 0.179862 gauss. This value must be subracted from the eld values when calculating the nuclear spin. Nuclear spins The table below shows the isotope currents for 10 trials as well as their respective magnetic elds and the calculated gf values. Trial 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Avg Resonance Current Ires , (A) 0.855673 0.780854 0.829979 0.789841 0.8116 0.836215 0.794457 0.77461 0.84822 0.886362 B-eld B, (G) 0.336471 0.291323 0.320966 0.296746 0.309875 0.324729 0.299531 0.287555 0.331973 0.354989 g-factor g 0.319207 0.368676 0.334626 0.361938 0.346603 0.330749 0.358573 0.373507 0.323531 0.302555 0.327 Table 3.2: Resonant Current Ires , (A) 0.628364 0.653968 0.637634 0.684464 0.630901 0.636433 0.708947 0.619493 0.617478 0.624883 B-eld B, (G) 0.199307 0.214757 0.204901 0.233159 0.200838 0.204176 0.247933 0.193954 0.192738 0.197206 g-factor g 0.538887 0.500118 0.524175 0.460646 0.534779 0.526035 0.433197 0.553759 0.557252 0.544626 0.4725

10

Low Field Zeeman Eect To conrm the low eld Zeeman eect, the transition frequencies of each isotope was measured as a function of sweep coil current. These results were plotted to determine that the resonance are in face linear in the magnetic eld. Frequency (MHz) 0 .1 .15 .2 Current I, (A) 0 0.34215 0.54969 0.67988 B-Field B, (G) 0 0.218824 0.328236 0.437647 Table 3.3: Current I, (A) 0 0.24856 0.36214 0.465207 B-Field B, (G) 0 0.151523 0.227285 0.303047

Figure 3.2: Linearly tted plot for Low eld Zeeman Eect

Sweep Field Calibration For this experiment, the value of the magnetic eld was calculated for each isotope from the resonance equation, the slope of the plot of the magnetic eld vs. the sweep current will be used to nd a formula for the magnetic eld intensity. For the data values of the magnetic eld, see Table 3.3.

Figure 3.3: Linearly tted plot for sweep eld calibration

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Main Field Calibration The data tables for the Main FIeld calibration are shown below and separated by Rubidium isotope. Additonally, the linear plot of The Coil Current vs. Magnetic eld intensity has an r2 = 0.973 which is very high. The slope of the plot is 8.17308 Gauss/Amp, which is close to the accepted value in the lab manual. Frequency (MHz) 0.2 0.3003 0.4002 0.5002 Total Field (Gauss) 0.320547 0.452149 0.616946 0.755526 Sweep Current (Amp) 0.257911 0.363797 0.496392 0.607893 Main Current (Amp) 0.0340595 0.0480685 0.0750628 0.0831059 B-Sweep (Gauss) 0.00377627 0.00532663 0.00726805 0.00890061 B-Main (Gauss) 0.316771 0.446822 0.609678 0.746625

Table 3.4: Main Field Calibration for Rb87 Frequency (MHz) 0.2 0.3003 0.4002 0.5002 Total Field (Gauss) 0.432777 0.676416 0.826037 1.09192 Sweep Current (Amp) 0.34821 0.544242 0.664626 0.878551 Main Current (Amp) 0.0392722 0.0732577 0.0960853 0.11189 B-Sweep (Gauss) 0.00509841 0.00796865 0.00973128 0.0128635 B-Main (Gauss) 0.427678 0.668448 0.816305 1.07905

Table 3.5: Main Field Calibration for Rb85

Figure 3.4: Linear t on data from Table 3.4.

3.2.2

Calculations

Calculating the g-factors From the lab, the resonant frequencies for optical pumping are found from = gF 0 B/h Rearranging this equation gives gF = h 0 B (3.2) (3.1)

This equation was used to derive the g-factors in table 3.2. 12

Calculating the g-factor ratio The Slopes of the linear ts for Figure ?? are 0.4312 and 0.28575. The ratio of these two slopes is then 1.474. As the theoretical ratio is 1.5, the experimental error in this measurement is 1.734%.

3.2.3

Analysis

All Data was analyzed using Mathematica. This allowed for accurate linear regression equations as well as a very quick way to manipulate recorded data values. Since the average error in the experiments was very low, there were no unusual measurements in the experiment.

3.3
3.3.1

Postlab
Discussion

The purpose of this lab was to use Low eld resonances to measure the g-factors of R85 and R87 . we concluded that the g-factors are 0.327 and 0.472 respectively, these are very close to the accepted value of 0.33 and 0.5. Our data supports the theory of quantum mechanics as well as the hyperne tting theory. The main diculties with this experiment as minimizing the net magnetic eld, it would take large amounts of time out of the experiment simply calibrate the setup. However, careful calibration led to accurate results.

3.3.2

Error Analysis

our g-factors were measured to be 0.327 and 0.472. These have an error of 1.9 and 5.6 percent respectively, these are very accurate measurements especially given the sensative nature of the experiment.

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