Polarization self-rotation in ultracold atomic {sup 87}Rb

Journal Article · Sun May 15 04:00:00 EDT 2011 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.83.053850· OSTI ID:21546899

Horrom, Travis; Mikhailov, Eugeniy E ^[1]; Balik, Salim; Havey, Mark D ^[2]; Lezama, Arturo ^[3]

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1. Department of Physics, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia 23187 (United States)
2. Department of Physics, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia 23529 (United States)
3. Instituto de Fisica, Universidad de la Republica, Casilla de correo 30, 11000, Montevideo (Uruguay)

We report on a combined experimental and theoretical study of polarization self-rotation in an ultracold atomic sample. In the experiments, a probe laser is tuned in the spectral vicinity of the D{sub 1} line to observe polarization self-rotation in a sample of ultracold {sup 87}Rb prepared in a magneto-optical trap (MOT). Systematic measurements of the rotation angle of the light-polarization ellipse as a function of laser intensity, initial ellipticity, and detuning are made. The observations, in good agreement with theoretical simulations, are indicative of the presence of a residual static magnetic field, resulting in measured asymmetries in the rotation angle for right and left ellipticities. In this paper we present our detailed experimental results and analysis of the combined influences of polarization self-rotation and the Faraday effect.

• OSTI ID: 21546899
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Journal Name: Physical Review. A Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 83; ISSN 1050-2947; ISSN PLRAAN
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
ASYMMETRY
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
FARADAY EFFECT
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
ISOTOPES
LASERS
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MAGNETO-OPTICAL EFFECTS
MOTION
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
POLARIZATION
RADIATIONS
RADIOISOTOPES
ROTATION
RUBIDIUM 87
RUBIDIUM ISOTOPES
SIMULATION
TRAPPING
VISIBLE RADIATION
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES