Implementation of a double-scanning technique for studies of the Hanle effect in Rubidium vapor

We have studied the resonance fluorescence of a room-temperature rubidium vapor exited to the atomic 5P3/2 state (D2 line) by powerful single-frequency cw laser radiation (1.25 W/cm^2) in the presence of a magnetic field. In these studies, the slow, linear scanning of the laser frequency across the hyperfine transitions of the D2 line is combined with a fast linear scanning of the applied magnetic field, which allows us to record frequency-dependent Hanle resonances from all the groups of hyperfine transitions including V- and Lambda - type systems. Rate equations were used to simulate fluorescence signals for 85Rb due to circularly polarized exciting laser radiation with different mean frequency values and laser intensity values. The simulation show a dependance of the fluorescence on the magnetic field. The Doppler effect was taken into account by averaging the calculated signals over different velocity groups. Theoretical calculations give a width of the signal peak in good agreement with experiment.