Modification of glass cell walls by rubidium vapor

Ma, Jie; Kishinevski, A.; Jau, Yuan‐Yu; Reuter, Christopher B.; Happer, W.

doi:10.1103/physreva.79.042905

Cited by 34 publications

(31 citation statements)

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“…The interaction of these highly confined fields with atomic vapors can allow the realization of optical nonlinearities at remarkably low power levels [3]. For example, TOF's surrounded by rubidium vapor, and PBGF's filled with rubidium vapor, have recently been used to demonstrate saturated absorption, two-photon absorption, and a variety of other nonlinear effects at nanowatt and even "few-photon" power levels [4][5][6][7][8][9][10].Unfortunately, the tendency of Rb to accumulate on silica surfaces [11] severely limits the performance of these devices. In the case of TOF's, Rb accumulation causes a drastic loss of transmission [12], while in PBGF's it can limit the penetration depth into the hollow-core to several cm's [10].…”

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confidence: 99%

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Ultralow-power nonlinear optics using tapered optical fibers in metastable xenon

2013

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We demonstrate nanowatt-level saturated absorption using a sub-wavelength diameter tapered optical fiber (TOF) suspended in a gas of metastable xenon atoms. This ultralow-power nonlinearity is enabled by a small optical mode area propagating over a relatively long distance through the Xe gas. The use of inert noble gasses in these kinds of TOF experiments may offer practical advantages over the use of reactive alkali vapors such as rubidium.PACS numbers: 42.81.Qb, 42.62.Fi,42.50.Gy Sub-wavelength diameter tapered optical fibers (TOF's) and small hollow-core photonic bandgap fibers (PBGF's) enable low-loss propagation of evanescent and air-guided modes with very small mode areas over very long distances [1,2]. The interaction of these highly confined fields with atomic vapors can allow the realization of optical nonlinearities at remarkably low power levels [3]. For example, TOF's surrounded by rubidium vapor, and PBGF's filled with rubidium vapor, have recently been used to demonstrate saturated absorption, two-photon absorption, and a variety of other nonlinear effects at nanowatt and even "few-photon" power levels [4][5][6][7][8][9][10].Unfortunately, the tendency of Rb to accumulate on silica surfaces [11] severely limits the performance of these devices. In the case of TOF's, Rb accumulation causes a drastic loss of transmission [12], while in PBGF's it can limit the penetration depth into the hollow-core to several cm's [10]. The observation of these difficulties suggests the use of inert noble gases, rather than reactive Rb vapor, to improve these systems. Here we specifically investigate the use of xenon in TOF experiments. We observe saturated absorption at nanowatt power levels, which indicates the suitability of this system for further ultralow-power nonlinear optics applications.An overview of one particular set of Xe energy levels for these applications is shown in Figure 1. A weak electric discharge is used to excite Xe to the 6s[3/2] 2 metastable state, which has a long intrinsic lifetime of ∼43 s [13]. This metastable state serves as an effective "ground state" for an optical ladder transition at 823 nm and 853 nm that can then be used for the various two-photon nonlinearities. The transition rates of these lines are 3 × 10 7 s −1 and 2 × 10 6 s −1 , respectively, which are comparable to those of the well-known 5S 1/2 → 5P 3/2 → 5D 5/2 ladder transition at 780 nm and 776 nm in Rb [14]. In principle, metastable state atomic densities of 10 13 cm −3 can be achieved in Xe [15], which would allow the high optical depths (OD's) desirable for many ultralow-power nonlinear optics applications.The purpose of this initial work was to perform saturation spectroscopy of the 823 nm transition using a TOF surrounded by a relatively low-density gas of metastable Xe atoms. The ability to saturate this transition at ultralow power levels is an indicator of the overall strength of the atom-field interaction in this system. Figure 2 shows a measured transmission spectrum of the 823 nm line obtained by passing a...

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“…Unfortunately, the tendency of Rb to accumulate on silica surfaces [11] severely limits the performance of these devices. In the case of TOF's, Rb accumulation causes a drastic loss of transmission [12], while in PBGF's it can limit the penetration depth into the hollow-core to several cm's [10].…”

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confidence: 99%

Ultralow-power nonlinear optics using tapered optical fibers in metastable xenon

2013

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“…After a certain amount of Rb deposition at room temperature, Rb signals measured by XPS increased little with repeated depositions. We assumed that this indicated nearly "cured" surface conditions [10], for which we performed all measurements except for confirmation of Rb aggregate formation at low temperatures.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Light-induced atom desorption from glass surfaces characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Kumagai

Hatakeyama

2016

Appl. Phys. B

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the first approximation, but they actually have some interactions with each other and also with the inner surface of the cell walls, which are often made of glass. Specifically, the atom-surface interactions cause undesired effects that cannot be easily understood and controlled, such as broadening and frequency shifts of resonance lines [3,4]. There have been many studies to understand surface-related phenomena in alkali metal vapor cells, such as anti-spinrelaxation coatings [5], surface modification to cause conductivity of cells [6] and stray electric fields [7], testing of several different surface materials for laser traps [8], direct measurements of adsorption/desorption dynamics [9], and measurement of passivation of a surface with alkali metal atoms, called "curing" [10]. However, there have mostly been only indirect studies of surfaces via atoms in the gas phase. Direct characterization of surfaces using standard surface science techniques has been very limited for atomic physics purposes [11].The same is true for studies of light-induced atom desorption [12]. This phenomenon has attracted particular attention in laser cooling and trapping experiments using ultrahigh vacuum cells, into which atoms can be loaded quickly on demand from the surface by LIAD techniques [13,14]. However, most LIAD studies [13,[15][16][17][18][19] focused only on desorbed atoms, and lack of basic knowledge of the surface itself leads to a poor understanding of desorption mechanisms and also some contradictory practical information. For example, one group reported that LIAD from quartz glass is not effective [20], but another loaded a magneto-optical trap in a quartz cell by LIAD [16].Following our previous study [21], we introduce surface analysis for glass surfaces, for which LIAD measurements were then carried out by focusing on differences between vitreous silica (synthetic quartz) and commercial borosilicate glass (Pyrex), which are the most commonly used Abstract We analyzed the surfaces of vitreous silica (quartz) and borosilicate glass (Pyrex) substrates exposed to rubidium (Rb) vapor by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to understand the surface conditions of alkali metal vapor cells. XPS spectra indicated that Rb atoms adopted different bonding states in quartz and Pyrex. Furthermore, Rb atoms in quartz remained in the near-surface region, while they diffused into the bulk in Pyrex. For these characterized surfaces, we measured light-induced atom desorption (LIAD) of Rb atoms. Clear differences in time evolution, photon energy dependence, and substrate temperature dependence were found; the decay of LIAD by continuous ultraviolet irradiation for quartz was faster than that for Pyrex, a monotonic increase in LIAD with increasing photon energy from 1.8 to 4.3 eV was more prominent for quartz, and LIAD from quartz was more efficient at higher temperatures in the range from 300 to 580 K, while that from Pyrex was almost independent of temperature.

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“…Additionally, various contamination and transport delays due to wall-vapor interaction can slow the rate at which the Rb enters the core or reduces its viable lifetime. 21 Changes to the loading process or the addition of anti-relaxation wall coatings or buffer gases can greatly mitigate the transport problems and increase the overall absorption, 22 but even the coated cells require a "ripening" time before proper operation. 23 Since Rb is taken as an extreme case, such changes may not be necessary in applications monitoring less reactive gases.…”

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Perforated hollow-core optical waveguides for on-chip atomic spectroscopy and gas sensing

Giraud-Carrier

Hill

Decker

et al. 2016

Applied Physics Letters

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A hollow-core waveguide structure for on-chip atomic spectroscopy is presented. The devices are based on Anti-Resonant Reflecting Optical Waveguides and may be used for a wide variety of applications which rely on the interaction of light with gases and vapors. The designs presented here feature short delivery paths of the atomic vapor into the hollow waveguide. They also have excellent environmental stability by incorporating buried solid-core waveguides to deliver light to the hollow cores. Completed chips were packaged with an Rb source and the F = 3 ≥ F′ = 2, 3, 4 transitions of the D2 line in 85Rb were monitored for optical absorption. Maximum absorption peak depths of 9% were measured.

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Modification of glass cell walls by rubidium vapor

Cited by 34 publications

References 10 publications

Ultralow-power nonlinear optics using tapered optical fibers in metastable xenon

Ultralow-power nonlinear optics using tapered optical fibers in metastable xenon

Light-induced atom desorption from glass surfaces characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Perforated hollow-core optical waveguides for on-chip atomic spectroscopy and gas sensing

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