Effect of optical pumping on the momentum relaxation time of graphene in the terahertz range

The momentum relaxation time of a photoexcited graphene in the THz frequency range has been studied by using terabertz time domain spectroscopy under optical pumping at room temperature. It is found that the momentum relaxation time of the graphene as a function of the optical pumping intensity exhibits a threshold behavior. The features of the momentum relaxation time as a function of the optical pumping intensity are also investigated. The results are useful for understanding the basic underlying physics of graphene scattering as well as finding the possible applications in carbon- based electronics.

Improvement of Laser Frequency Stabilization for the Optical Pumping Cesium Beam Standard

A method is presented to improve the laser frequency stabilization for the optical pumping cesium clock. By comparing the laser frequency stabilization of different schemes, we verify that the light angle is an important factor that limits the long-term frequency stability. We minimize the drift of the light angle by using a fiber- coupled output, and lock the frequency of a distributed-feedback diode laser to the fluorescence spectrum of the atomic beam. The measured frequency stability is about 3.5 ×10^-11 at i s and reaches 1.5 × 10^-12 at 2000s. The Allan variance keeps going down for up to thousands of seconds, indicating that the medium- and long-term stability of the laser frequency is significantly improved and perfectly fulfills the requirement for the optical pumping cesium clock.

Improvement of the short-term stability of atomic fountain clock with state preparation by two-laser optical pumping

To improve the signal to noise ratio(SNR)and the short-term stability of cesium atomic fountain clocks,the work of two-laser optical pumping is presented theoretically and experimentally.The short-term stability of the NIM6 fountain clock has been improved by preparing more cold atoms in the|F=4,m_(F)=0>clock state with a shortened cycle time.Two π-polarized laser beams overlapped in the horizontal plane have been applied after launching,one is resonant with|F=4>→|F′=4>transition and the other is resonant with|F=3>→|F′=4>transition.With optical pumping,the population accumulated in the|m_(F)=0>clock state is improved from 11%to 63%,and the detection signal is increased by a factor of 4.2,the SNR of the clock transition probability and the short-term stability are also improved accordingly.

Optical pumping and population transfer of nuclear-spin states of caesium atoms in high magnetic fields

Nuclear-spin states of gaseous-state Cs atoms in the ground state are optically manipulated using a Ti：sapphire laser in a magnetic field of 1.516 T, in which optical coupling of the nuclear-spin states is achieved through hyperfine interactions between electrons and nuclei. The steady-state population distribution in the hyperfine Zeeman sublevels of the ground state is detected by using a tunable diode laser. Furthermore, the state population transfer among the hyperfine Zeeman sublevels, which results from the collision-induced modification δa（S·I） of the hyperfine interaction of Cs in the ground state due to stochastic collisions between Cs atoms and buffer-gas molecules, is studied at different buffer-gas pressures. The experimental results show that high-field optical pumping and the small change δa（S · I） of the hyperfine interaction can strongly cause the state population transfer and spin-state interchange among the hyperfine Zeeman sublevels. The calculated results maybe explain the steady-state population in hyperfine Zeeman sublevels in terms of rates of optical-pumping, electron-spin flip, nuclear spin flip, and electron-nuclear spin flip-flop transitions among the hyperfine Zeeman sublevels of the ground state of Cs atoms. This method may be applied to the nuclear-spin-based solid-state quantum computation.

Optical state selection process with optical pumping in a cesium atomic fountain clock

We propose and realize a new optical state selection method on a cesium atomic fountain clock by applying a two-laser 3-3'optical pumping configuration to spin polarize atoms.The atoms are prepared in|F=3,mF=0>clock state with optical pumping directly after being launched up,followed by a pushing beam to push away the atoms remaining in the|F=4>state.With a state selection efficiency exceeding 92%,this optical method can substitute the traditional microwave state selection,and helps to develop a more compact physical package.A Ramsey fringe has been achieved with this optical state selection method,and a contrast of 90%is obtained with a full width half maximum of 0.92 Hz.The short-term frequency stability of 6.8×10^(-14)(τ/s)^(-1/2) is acquired.In addition,the number of detected atoms is increased by a factor of 1.7 with the optical state selection.

Optical pumping nuclear magnetic resonance system rotating in a plane parallel to the quantization axis

Requested by the authors, the article entitled ＂Optical pumping nuclear magnetic resonance system rotating in a plane parallel to the quantization axis＂, published in Chinese Physics B, 2017, Vol. 26, Issue 9, Article No. 093301, has been withdrawn from the publication. The authors found that the axes in the rotating frame xy＇z are not all time-invariant, so Eq. （12） obtained from Eq. （11） is incorrect, and the conclusion is inaccurate.

Experimental Study on Double Resonance Optical Pumping Spectroscopy in a Ladder-Type System of ^(87)Rb Atoms

Double resonance optical pumping spectroscopy has an outstanding advantage of high signal-to-noise ratio, thus having potential applications in precision measurement. With the counter propagated 780nm and 776nm laser beams acting on a rubidium vapor cell, the high resolution spectrum of 5S1/2 - 5P3/2 - 5D5/2 ladder-type transition of ST Rb atoms is obtained by monitoring the population of the 5S1/2 ground state. The dependence of the spectroscopy lineshape on the probe and coupling fields are comprehensively studied in theory and experiment. This research is helpful for measurement of fundamental physical constants by high resolution spectroscopy.

Optical pumping nuclear magnetic resonance system rotating in a plane parallel to the quantization axis

A model of an optical pumping nuclear magnetic resonance system rotating in a plane parallel to the quantization axis is presented. Different coordinate frames for nuclear spin polarization vector are introduced, and theoretical calculation is conducted to analyze this model. We demonstrate that when the optical pumping nuclear magnetic resonance system rotates in a plane parallel to the quantization axis, it will maintain a steady state with respect to the quantization axis which is independent of rotational speed and direction.

State Preparation in a Cold Atom Clock by Optical Pumping

We implement optical pumping to prepare cold atoms in our prototype of the ST Rb space cold atom clock, which operates in the one-way mode. Several modifications are made on our previous physical and optical system. The effective atomic signal in the top detection zone is increased to 2.5 times with 87% pumping efficiency. The temperature of the cold atom cloud is increased by 1.4 μK. We study the dependences of the effective signal gain and pumping efficiency on the pumping laser intensity and detuning. The effects of σ transition are discussed. This technique may be used in the future space cold atom clocks.

A polarized^(3)He system based on metastability-exchange optical pumping

Hyperpolarized^(3)He nuclei have emerged as a significantly important approach in quantum precision measurement techniques,with extensive applications in fundamental physics,magnetometry,metrology,and beyond.In this study,we report on the design and implementation of a^(3)He polarization system at the China Mianyang Research Reactor(CMRR),utilizing the metastabilityexchange optical pumping(MEOP)method.We employed a Merritt coil system consisting of four square coils to furnish a uniform holding field.We deployed a 2 W fiber laser to pump the metastable^(3)He atoms and conducted free induction decay(FID)detection of the polarized^(3)He nuclei using both pickup coil and optical methods.For the optical method,we used a50 m W linearly polarized distributed Bragg reflector(DBR)laser as the probe.We applied transverse light absorption polarimetry to measure the absolute nuclear polarization of the ground-state^(3)He.We have developed cell fabrication capabilities at the CMRR,and cells at various pressures ranging from 100 to 1000 Pa have been fabricated and evaluated.For a typical borosilicate cell with 100 Pa pressure,the absolute polarization is measured as Pn≈70%,and the transverse relaxation time is estimated as T2≈0.5 s.Moreover,we constructed a few aluminosilicate cells,each carefully filled with pure^(3)He at a pressure of 100 Pa.Subsequently,we conducted a comprehensive evaluation of their performance in the context of MEOP.

Optically pumped wavelength-tunable lasing from a GaN beam cavity with an integrated Joule heater pivoted on Si

Dynamically tunable laser sources are highly promising for realizing visionary concepts of integrated photonic circuits and other applications. In this paper, a Ga N-based laser with an integrated PN junction heater on Si is fabricated.The photoluminescence properties of the Ga N beam cavity are controlled by temperature, and the Joule heater provides electrically driven regulation of temperature. These two features of the cavity make it possible to realize convenient tuning of the lasing properties. The multi-functional Ga N beam cavity achieves optically pumped lasing with a single mode near 362.4 nm with a high Q-factor of 1394. The temperature of this device increases by 0–5℃ under the Joule heating effect. Then, electrical control of the lasing mode is demonstrated. The lasing resonant peak shows a continuous redshift of about 0.5 nm and the device also exhibits dynamic switching of its lasing mode. The lasing modulation can be ascribed to temperature-induced reduction of the bandgap. Our work may be of benefit for external optical modulation in future chip-based optoelectronic devices.

Design and test of the microwave cavity in an optically-pumped Rubidium beam frequency standard

We are developing a compact rubidium atomic beam frequency standard with optical pumping and detection. The cavity for microwave interrogation is an important part of the clock. The cavity in our design is a Ramsey-type, E-bend one, which is the same as the conventional method in most cesium beam clocks. Requirements for the design are proposed based on the frequency shift associated with the cavity. The basic structure of the cavity is given by theoretical analysis and detailed dimensions are determined by means of electromagnetic field simulation with the help of commercial software.The cavity is manufactured and fabricated successfully. The preliminary test result of the cavity is given, which is in good agreement with the simulation. The resonant frequency is 6.835 GHz, equal to the clock transition frequency of87 Rb, and the loaded quality factor is 500. These values are adjustable with posts outside the cavity. Estimations on the Ramsey line width and several frequency shifts are made.

Off-resonant double-resonance optical-pumping spectra and their application in a multiphoton cesium magneto-optical trap

We present an investigation of double-resonance optical pumping （DROP） spectra under the condition of single-photon frequency detuning based on a cesium 6S1/2-6P3/2-8S1/2 ladder-type system with a room-temperature vapor cell. Two DROP peaks are found, and their origins are explored. One peak has a narrow linewidth due to the atomic coherence for a counterpropagating configuration; the other peak has a broad linewidth, owing to the spontaneous decay for a coprop-agating configuration. This kind of off-resonant DROP spectrum can be used to control and offset-lock a laser frequency to a transition between excited states. We apply this technique to a multiphoton cesium magneto-optical trap, which can efficiently trap atoms on both red and blue sides of the two-photon resonance.

In-situ optical pumping for polarizing 3He neutron spin filters at the China Spallation Neutron Source

In this paper,we present the performance of a recently developed in-situ spin-exchange optically pumped^(3)He-neutron spin filter system at the China Spallation Neutron Source(CSNS).The system achieved a^(3)He polarization of over 74%at the beamline BL-20.Analysis of neutron transmission experiment results reveals a neutron polarization of>90%and an average transmission of 27%for 2.2Åneutrons,which were maintained for a duration of 120 h of beam time.To the best of our knowledge,this is the first in-situ hyperpolarized^(3)He system incorporated on a neutron beamline in China.This technology is expected to provide stable,wide-angle,and highly polarized neutrons at the CSNS for materials research and fundamental neutron physics.

Double-resonance optical-pumping effect and laddertype electromagnetically induced transparency signal without Doppler background in cesium atomic vapour cell

In a Doppler-broadened ladder-type cesium atomic system （6S1/2 6P3/2-8S1/2）, this paper characterizes electro- magnetically induced transparency （EIT） in two different experimental arrangements, and investigates the influence of the double-resonance optical-pumping （DROP） effect on EIT in both arrangements. When the probe laser is weak, DROP is explicitly suppressed. When the probe laser is moderate, population of the intermediate level （6P3/2 FI = 5） is remarkable, therefore DROP is mixed with EIT. An interesting bimodal spectrum with the broad component due to DROP and the narrow part due to EIT has been clearly observed in cesium 6S1/2 F = 4-6P3/2 F^1= 5-8S1/2 F^11 = 4 transitions.

Atomic optical spatial mode extractor for vector beams based on polarization-dependent absorption

Vector beams with spiral phase and spatially varying polarization profiles have many applications from optical micromanipulation to materials processing. Here, we propose and demonstrate an atomic spatial mode extracting scheme for the vector beam based on polarization-dependent absorption in the atom vapor. By employing the linear polarization pump beam which induces polarization sensitive absorption in the atomic ensemble, a counter-propagated weak probe vector beam is extracted by spatial absorption, and extracted part still maintains the original polarization and the vortex phase.The topological charges of the extracted mode are verified by interfering with the Gaussian beam, and it can be found that the orbital angular momentum is conserved in the extracting process. Our work will have potential applications in non-destructive spatial mode identification, and is also useful for studying higher-dimensional quantum information based on atomic ensembles.

Widely Tunable Middle Infrared Optical Parametric Oscillator Pumped by the Q-Switched Ho：GdVO_4 Laser

We demonstrate a middle infrared ZnGeP_2 optical parametric oscillator pumped by the Q-switched Ho：GdVO_4 laser. When the incident Ho pump power is 4.12 W, the maximum average output power of the ZGP-OPO laser is 2.05 W, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 74.6%. The ZGP-OPO laser produces 4.2 ns mid-infrared pulses at a pulse repetition rate of 5 kHz. In addition, we obtain 0.8 um of tunable range for the signal wave and 2.1 um of tunable range for the idler wave.

Transmittance investigation on capacitive mesh on thick dielectric substrates as output windows for optically pumped terahertz lasers

This paper reports that an output window for optically pumped terahertz （THz） laser has been fabricated by depositing a capacitive nickel-mesh on a thick high-resistivity silicon substrate （approximating to 5 mm thick）. Unlike the conventional process of depositing a gold film approximating to 100 nm on negative photoresist using electron-beam evaporation, a nickel film approximating to 1.5 μm thick is directly deposited on the clean surface of dielectric substrate using magnetron sputtering and then a positive photoresist is spun onto the nickel metal surface at 6000 r for 60 s. A transmittance spectrum of the output window in a certain frequency range （say, from zero to 1 THz） has been obtained by using THz time domain spectroscopy. Moreover a transmittance spectrum simulated numerically has also been estimated with respect to the output window using the transmission-line model （TLM） containing attenuation component from dielectric substrate. The simulation results show that the TLM can explain well the experimental curve in a certain frequency range from zero to 1 THz. Thus it is demonstrated that the improved optical component can be efficiently used as both output coupler and output window for optically pumped THz lasers.

Analysis of influence of RF power and buffer gas pressure on sensitivity of optically pumped cesium magnetometer

A further study is conducted on two factors which respectively influence the sensitivity of optically pumped cesium magnetometer （CsOPM）. The influence of radio frequency （RF） power and the buffer gas pressure on the sensitivity is theoretically analyzed, and some properties are predicted. Based on the established measurement system and the visible Zeeman spectrum, not only is the real influence of these factors studied, but also, under our experimental condition, optimum parameters based on the measured curves are ascertained. The properties of these measured curves match the theoretical result very well. Our research attempts to provide theory reference to help magnetometer designers determine optimum parameters under certain conditions.

A 45-μJ,10-kHz,burst-mode picosecond optical parametric oscillator synchronously pumped at a second harmonic cavity

A novel high-energy picosecond optical parametric oscillator(OPO)was realized by placing an OPO in a secondharmonic(SH)cavity.In a proof-of-principle experiment,we demonstrated excellent burst energy of 45μJ for the OPO signal at 900 nm that operates at a pulse repetition rate of 10 k Hz and a pulse width of 46.8 ps.The beam quality was measured as M_(x)^(2)=1.44 and M_(y)^(2)=1.40 in the orthogonal directions,corresponding to an average beam factor M^(2)=1.42.So far,this study is the first to investigate high-energy ps OPO synchronously pumped in a second-harmonic cavity.