V. I. Yudin

Coherent population trapping resonances in thermal 85 Rb vapor: D 1 versus D 2 line excitation

We have compared coherent population trapping (CPT) resonances, both experimentally and theoretically, for excitation of the D(1) and D(2) transitions of thermal (85)Rb vapor. Excitation of the D(1) line results in greater resonance contrast than excitation of the D(2) line and in a reduction in the resonance width, in agreement with theoretical expectations. These results translate into a nearly tenfold improvement in performance for the application of CPT resonances to a frequency standard or a sensitive magnetometer when the D(1) line, rather than the D(2) line, is used.

Magnetic field-induced spectroscopy of forbidden optical transitions with application to lattice-based optical atomic clocks

We develop a method of spectroscopy that uses a weak static magnetic field to enable direct optical excitation of forbidden electric-dipole transitions that are otherwise prohibitively weak. The power of this scheme is demonstrated using the important application of optical atomic clocks based on neutral atoms confined to an optical lattice. The simple experimental implementation of this method--a single clock laser combined with a dc magnetic field--relaxes stringent requirements in current lattice-based clocks (e.g., magnetic field shielding and light polarization), and could therefore expedite the realization of the extraordinary performance level predicted for these clocks. We estimate that a clock using alkaline-earth-like atoms such as Yb could achieve a fractional frequency uncertainty of well below 10(-17) for the metrologically preferred even isotopes.

On the unique possibility of significantly increasing the contrast of dark resonances on the D1 line of 87Rb

We propose and study, theoretically and experimentally, a new scheme of excitation of a coherent population trapping resonance for the D1 line of alkali atoms with nuclear spin I = 3/2 by bichromatic linearly polarized light (lin‖lin field) under the conditions of spectral resolution of the excited state. The unique properties of this scheme result in a high contrast of dark resonance for the D1 line of 87Rb.

Cancellation of light shifts in an N-resonance clock.

We demonstrate that first-order light shifts can be canceled for an all-optical, three-photon-absorption resonance (N-resonance) on the D1 transition of 87Rb. This light-shift cancellation facilitates improved frequency stability for an N-resonance clock. For example, by using a tabletop apparatus designed for N-resonance spectroscopy, we measured a short-term fractional frequency stability (Allan deviation) of approximately/= 1.5 x 10(-11) tao1/2 for observation times of 1 s < or = tao < or = 50 s. Further improvements in frequency stability should be possible with an apparatus designed as a dedicated N-resonance clock.

Influence of atomic motion on the shape of two-photon resonance in gas

A gas of three-level atoms with Λ configuration of energy levels was taken as an example to demonstrate that the influence of particle motion on the two-photon resonances extends further than the residual Doppler shift (k1−k2)v. In particular, a narrow dip in the absorption spectrum (“dark” resonance) undergoes substantial narrowing, as compared to the atoms at rest. The width of this resonance is studied nonperturbatively as a function of the intensities of probe and strong fields.

Comparison of 87Rb N-resonances for D1 and D2 transitions

We report an experimental comparison of three-photon-absorption resonances (N-resonances) for the D1 and D2 optical transitions of thermal (87)Rb vapor. We find that the D2 N-resonance has better contrast, a broader linewidth, and a more symmetric line shape than the D1 N-resonance. Taken together, these factors imply superior performance for frequency standards operating on alkali D2 N-resonances, in contrast with coherent population trapping resonances, for which the D2 transition provides poorer frequency standard performance than the D1 transition.

On the spontaneous-coherence-transfer-induced sign change of a sub-natural-width nonlinear resonance

A simple theoretical model is proposed which describes the positive sign of the nonlinear absorption resonances in the experiments of Akul’shin et al. [Phys. Rev. A 57, 2996 (1998)]. An analytical expression for the linear response to a weak probe field is obtained in the weak-saturation limit. It is shown that the positive sign of sub-natural-width resonances is due to the spontaneous transfer of low-frequency coherence from an excited level to the ground state.

Steady state of atoms in a resonant field with elliptical polarization

We present a complete set of analytical and invariant expressions for the steady-state density matrix of atoms in a resonant radiation field with arbitrary intensity and polarization. The field drives the closed dipole transition with arbitrary values of the angular momenta J{sub g} and J{sub e} of the ground and excited state. The steady-state density matrix is expressed in terms of spherical harmonics of a complex direction given by the field polarization vector. The generalization to the case of broadband radiation is given. We indicate various applications of these results.

Experimental preparation of pure superposition states of atoms via elliptically polarized bichromatic radiation

We propose a simple and effective way of creating pure dark superposition states. The generation of pure states is carried out by using bichromatic radiation with controllable polarization ellipticity. We experimentally confirm analytic formulas for polarization ellipticity to obtain m-m pure dark states in the system of Zeeman sublevels of alkali atoms. For 87Rb we experimentally accumulated 60% of the atoms in the 0-0 dark state and 50% into the (+/-1) - (+/-1) dark states.

Dynamic steady state of periodically driven quantum systems

Using the density matrix formalism, we prove an existence theorem of the periodic steady-state for an arbitrary periodically-driven system. This state has the same period as the modulated external influence, and it is realized as an asymptotic solution (