Abstract

Spatially selective spectroscopic information from atoms near an interface can be obtained from the modification of the reflectivity of the interface.¹ The high sensitivity and spatial selectivity of these optical methods makes them also an attractive tool for the measurement of other atomic quantities, e.g., optically induced anisotropies.² We have used pump–probe experiments to study them through nonlinear magnetooptical effects in the vicinity of a glass surface. We could calculate the major signal features from a relatively simple theory by taking into account the modifications of the complex index of refraction of the atomic medium by the magnetisation present in the system.

© 1994 IEEE