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

Adiabatic transfer for atomic interferometry.

We have observed momentum transfer in cesium atoms using the process of adiabatic transfer between dark states. We have investigated the sensitivity of this process to Zeeman shifts and to the differences between the translational energies of the states involved. We have shown that, for a chosen velocity class, the resultant phase shifts of the magnetic substates can be canceled so a dark state is maintained. Two different laser polarization conligurations were used to perform the experiments: two circularly polarized beams or a linearly and a circulary polarized beam. Results for each are presented. Finally we discuss the relevance of our results to atomic interferometry and consider methods to minimize the possible phase shifts introduced in an atomic interferometer based upon adiabatic transfer

Measurement of the ratio of the squares of the reduced magnetic dipole matrix elements for the 876 nm and 648 nm transitions in atomic bismuth

Using Faraday spectroscopy, we have measured the ratio $\kappa$ of the squares of the reduced magnetic dipole matrix elements for the 876 nm ($^4$S$_{3/2}-^2$D$_{3/2}$) and 648 nm ($^4$S$_{3/2}-^2$D$_{5/2}$) transitions in the 6p$^3$ ground configuration of atomic bismuth. We find $\kappa = 8.75(25)$, in good agreement with theory

Suppression of collisional loss from a magnetic trap

Caesium atoms in a magnetic trap have a higher loss rate from latin-trap collisions than rubidium under comparable conditions. We have found that this loss from inelastic collisions can be suppressed by periodic optical pumping of the atoms back into the most strongly trapped magnetic state (F = 4, MF = +4), although this reclamation of the strayed atoms gives rise to some heating of the sample. This observation shows that the dominant loss mechanism in the magnetic bias field regime investigated is from collisions which change the magnetic sublevel (quantum number MF) and not the hyperfine level (F quantum number)