Elliptical polarization of near-resonant linearly polarized probe light in optically pumped alkali metal vapor

Yingying Li; Zhiguo Wang; Shilong Jin; Jie Yuan; Hui Luo

doi:10.1038/srep43066

Elliptical polarization of near-resonant linearly polarized probe light in optically pumped alkali metal vapor

Sci Rep. 2017 Feb 20:7:43066. doi: 10.1038/srep43066.

Authors

Yingying Li^{1

2}, Zhiguo Wang^{1

2}, Shilong Jin¹, Jie Yuan^{1

2}, Hui Luo^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ College of Optoelectronic Science and Engineering, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China.
² Interdisciplinary Center for Quantum Information, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China.

Abstract

Optically pumped alkali metal atoms currently provide a sensitive solution for magnetic microscopic measurements. As the most practicable plan, Faraday rotation of linearly polarized light is extensively used in spin polarization measurements of alkali metal atoms. In some cases, near-resonant Faraday rotation is applied to improve the sensitivity. However, the near-resonant linearly polarized probe light is elliptically polarized after passing through optically pumped alkali metal vapor. The ellipticity of transmitted near-resonant probe light is numerically calculated and experimentally measured. In addition, we also analyze the negative impact of elliptical polarization on Faraday rotation measurements. From our theoretical estimate and experimental results, the elliptical polarization forms an inevitable error in spin polarization measurements.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't