Resonant nonlinear magneto-optical effects in atoms

In this article, we review the history, current status, physical mechanisms, experimental methods, and applications of nonlinear magneto-optical effects in atomic vapors. We begin by describing the pioneering work of Macaluso and Corbino over a century ago on linear magneto-optical effects (in which the properties of the medium do not depend on the light power) in the vicinity of atomic resonances, and contrast these effects with various nonlinear magneto-optical phenomena that have been studied both theoretically and experimentally since the late 1960s. In recent years, the field of nonlinear magneto-optics has experienced a revival of interest that has led to a number of developments, including the observation of ultra-narrow (1-Hz) magneto-optical resonances, applications in sensitive magnetometry, nonlinear magneto-optical tomography, and the possibility of a search for parity- and time-reversal-invariance violation in atoms.Comment: 51 pages, 23 figures, to appear in Rev. Mod. Phys. in Oct. 2002, Figure added, typos corrected, text edited for clarit

POLARIZATION DEPENDENT PROPERTIES OF BACKWARD FOUR-WAVE MIXING

Des analyses théoriques ont été faites des dépendances de polarisation et de moment angulaire d'un mélange arriéré à quatre ondes de raies atomiques. Ces résultats ont aussi été appliqués au problème "vectoriel" de la phase conjuguée dans des vapeurs atomiques. Une démonstration expérimentale de la phase conjuguée-vectorielle a été entreprise sur la raie D2 de résonance du sodium. En ce qui concerne la spectroscopie de la phase conjuguée dans la matière condensée, il a été proposé de détecter le composant X(3)1221 afin d'éliminer l'effet thermique.Theoretical analyses have been made of polarization-and angular momentum-dependences of backward four-wave mixing in atomic lines. These results were also applied to the problem of "vectorial" phase-conjugation in atomic vapours. Experimental demonstration of the vectorial phase-conjugation was carried out in D2 resonance line of sodium. Concerning the phase-conjugation spectroscopy in condensed matter, it has been proposed to detect X(3)1221 component to eliminate thermal grating effect