Dipankar Bhattacharyya

Direct measurement on transparent plates by using Fizeau interferometry

It is shown that Fizeau interferometry provides an accurate optical method to measure the refractive index and wedge angle of transparent plates used as optical components in different experiments. A near IR external cavity diode laser having spectral resolution up to 10−7 has been employed to measure the refractive index of the test plates by introducing amplitude modulation technique in the detection system of our phase shifting Fizeau interferometry. Detection of spatial fringes has been performed to find out the wedge angles of the plates by using a He–Ne laser along with the CCD-image sensor.

Theoretical study of electromagnetically induced transparency in a five-level atom and application to Doppler-broadened and Doppler-free Rb atoms

We report theoretical studies of a Λ-type five-level atomic system. The density matrix equations are set up and solved numerically to obtain the probe absorption line shape of Rb D2 transitions for cold (Doppler-free) and room temperature (Doppler-broadened) atoms. Simulated spectra for Doppler-broadened systems lead to four velocity-selective dips along with an electromagnetic induced transparency (EIT) peak as observed earlier from the co-propagating pump–probe spectroscopy of Rb D2 transitions. Effects of pump power and spontaneous decay rate from the upper levels on the simulated spectra are also studied. For cold atoms a very pronounced EIT peak is observed when the pump frequency is on resonance with one allowed transition. We find that lower pump power leads to a much sharper EIT signal in this case. A simulated dispersion curve shows a rapid variation of the refractive index that may lead to a sharp reduction of the group velocity of photons.

Observation of electromagnetically induced transparency in six-level Rb atoms and theoretical simulation of the observed spectra

We report the observation of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in a six-level Λ-type system in atomic Rb vapor containing both 87Rb and 85Rb. The experimental observation includes five velocity selective optically pumped (VSOP) absorption dips for both 87Rb and 85Rb. The EIT signal appears on the background of one such VSOP absorption dips. The measured EIT linewidth () shows sub-natural ( ) values for both lower and higher values of pump Rabi-frequencies. The density matrix based theoretical model for the six-level system is developed and solved numerically by taking into account the Doppler broadening. A complete analytical solution (non perturbative) for a three level Λ-type system has been obtained and compared with the experimentally observed sub-natural EIT linewidth. The simulated spectra are in good agreement with the experimental findings.

Revisiting the four-level inverted-Y system under both Doppler-free and Doppler-broadened conditions: an analytical approach

We report the occurrence of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in the simulated probe response signal for a four-level inverted-Y type system that is being acted upon by a weak coherent probe field, a strong coherent pump field and a coherent repump field. There are two ground energy levels, one intermediate energy level and one uppermost energy level. The weak probe field couples the lowest ground level to the intermediate level whereas the repump field connects the other ground level with the intermediate level. The strong control field couples the intermediate level with the uppermost energy level, thereby forming an inverted-Y type system. The density matrix based theoretical model has been developed and solved analytically for this four-level system and the probe response signal has been simulated at different values of the control and repump Rabi frequencies, control and repump frequency detunings and under both Doppler-free and Doppler-broadened conditions using the parameters of 87Rb D2 transition. Extremely low line width (few tens of kHz) for the EIT signal has been noticed under thermal averaging for copropagating probe, control and repump field configuration. The EIT signal is found to be immune to the variation in the control Rabi frequency.

Splitting of electromagnetically induced absorption signal in a five-level V-type atomic system

Electromagnetically induced absorption (EIA) and velocity-selective transparency peaks are observed in the probe absorption signal of V-type five-level atomic systems interacting with copropagating control and probe fields. At high control beam intensity, a splitting of EIA occurs. The experiment shows similar results for both Rb87 and Rb85 isotopes at room temperature. A density matrix-based theoretical model of this five-level system has been developed and solved numerically under steady-state condition. The simulated spectra agree quite well with the experimental findings. An analytic expression for the probe response is derived and used to find out the causes for the splitting of EIA.

Laser Frequency Stabilization for Atom Cooling and Magnetic-Field Compression of the Trap

We report a frequency stabilization technique of a diode laser in a Doppler-free atomic transition used for obtaining the magneto-optical trapping of Rb atoms. This technique, based on side locking to an atomic transition using a servo controller, is very simple and can be implemented straightforwardly to lock the laser at the red detuned frequency position required for laser cooling experiments. The number of trapped atoms and the temperature of the cold cloud have been determined. The effect of trapping the magnetic field on the cloud radius has also been analyzed.