Collision kernels from velocity-selective optical pumping with magnetic depolarization

T. Bhamre, R. Marsland, III, I. K. Kominis, B. H. McGuyer, and W. Happer
Phys. Rev. A 87, 043412 – Published 12 April 2013

Abstract

We experimentally demonstrate how magnetic depolarization of velocity-selective optical pumping can be used to single out the collisional cusp kernel best describing spin- and velocity-relaxing collisions between potassium atoms and low-pressure helium. The range of pressures and transverse fields used simulate the optical pumping regime pertinent to sodium guidestars employed in adaptive optics. We measure the precession of spin-velocity modes under the application of transverse magnetic fields, simulating the natural configuration of mesospheric sodium optical pumping in the geomagnetic field. We also provide a full theoretical account of the experimental data using the recently developed cusp kernels, which realistically quantify velocity damping collisions in this optical pumping regime. A single cusp kernel with a sharpness s=13±2 provides a global fit to the K-He data.

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  • Received 5 February 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.87.043412

©2013 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

T. Bhamre1, R. Marsland, III2, I. K. Kominis3, B. H. McGuyer1,*, and W. Happer1

  • 1Department of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA
  • 2Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
  • 3Department of Physics, University of Crete, Heraklion 71103, Greece

  • *Present address: Department of Physics, Columbia University, 538 West 120th Street, New York, New York 10027-5255, USA.

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Vol. 87, Iss. 4 — April 2013

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