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Ramsey-like measurement of the decoherence rate between Zeeman sublevels

M. Shuker, O. Firstenberg, Y. Sagi, A. Ben-kish, N. Davidson, and A. Ron
Phys. Rev. A 78, 063818 – Published 11 December 2008
Physics logo See Synopsis: Optical measurements in the dark
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Abstract

Two-photon processes that involve different sublevels of the ground state of an atom, are highly sensitive to depopulation and decoherence within the ground state. For example, the spectral width of electromagnetically induced transparency resonances in a Λ-type system, are strongly affected by the ground-state depopulation and decoherence rates. We present a direct measurement of decay rates between hyperfine and Zeeman sublevels in the ground state of Rb87 vapor. Similar to the relaxation-in-the-dark technique, pumping lasers are used to prealign the atomic vapor in a well-defined quantum state. The free propagation of the atomic state is monitored using a Ramsey-like method. Coherence times in the range 110ms were measured for room temperature atomic vapor. In the range of the experimental parameters used in this study, the dominant process inducing Zeeman decoherence is the spin-exchange collisions between rubidium atoms.

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  • Received 23 July 2008

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.78.063818

©2008 American Physical Society

Synopsis

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Optical measurements in the dark

Published 15 December 2008

Lasers can make an opaque material transparent, but to determine how long this state survives, you have to shut off the lights.

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Authors & Affiliations

M. Shuker1, O. Firstenberg1, Y. Sagi2, A. Ben-kish1, N. Davidson2, and A. Ron1

  • 1Department of Physics, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel
  • 2Department of Physics of Complex Systems, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel

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Issue

Vol. 78, Iss. 6 — December 2008

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