Method for measuring the dwell time of spin-polarized Rb atoms on coated pyrex glass surfaces using light shift

We present a simple method for directly measuring the average dwell time of spin-polarized Rb atoms on coated Pyrex glass surfaces. The method relies on the light shift of the Zeeman resonances of spin-polarized Rb atoms pumped and probed by evanescent waves, and does not depend on the microscopic d...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Veröffentlicht in:Physical review letters 2009-08, Vol.103 (7), p.073201-073201, Article 073201
Hauptverfasser: Zhao, K F, Schaden, M, Wu, Z
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
Online-Zugang:Volltext
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:We present a simple method for directly measuring the average dwell time of spin-polarized Rb atoms on coated Pyrex glass surfaces. The method relies on the light shift of the Zeeman resonances of spin-polarized Rb atoms pumped and probed by evanescent waves, and does not depend on the microscopic details of surface interactions. We use a cell whose length is adjustable between 70 and 500 microm. The inverse of the difference between the frequency shifts caused by sigma+ and sigma- pump beams depends linearly on the cell length, from which we obtain the average dwell time tau(s). For a Pyrex glass cell coated with octadecyltrichlorosilane we find that tau(s)=0.53+/-0.03 mus at a cell wall temperature of 103 degrees C. The temperature dependence of tau(s) is fitted to tau(s)=tau[mean](0) exp(E(a)/kT), yielding a preexponential factor tau[mean](0)=2.2(-1.4)(+5.1) ns and an activation energy E(a)=0.19+/-0.03 eV.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/physrevlett.103.073201