Abstract
We study theoretically and experimentally a new mechanism for the rotation of the polarization ellipse of a single laser beam propagating through an atomic vapor with a frequency tuned near an atomic resonance. The results of a theoretical treatment for the case of a J = 1/2 to J = 1/2 atomic transition show that a rotation of the polarization ellipse of the laser beam will occur as a result of ground-state optical pumping and that the angle of rotation is independent of the laser intensity over a broad range of laser intensities. The predictions of this theoretical model are tested experimentally through the use of potassium vapor and are found to agree with the experimental data.
© 1992 Optical Society of America
Full Article | PDF ArticleMore Like This
Jiang-Bin Zheng, De-Kang Chai, Zhu-Bo Wang, Guang-Jie Chen, Ya-Dong Hu, Liang Chen, Hong-Jie Fan, Yan-Lei Zhang, Chun-Hua Dong, Chang-Ling Zou, Guang-Can Guo, Ming-Yong Ye, Gong-Wei Lin, and Xiu-Min Lin
Opt. Express 32(1) 313-324 (2024)
Naoya Hombo, Shuya Taniguchi, Shota Sugimura, Kazuki Fujita, and Masaharu Mitsunaga
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 29(7) 1717-1721 (2012)
E. Figueroa, F. Vewinger, J. Appel, and A. I. Lvovsky
Opt. Lett. 31(17) 2625-2627 (2006)