1. Transverse optical pumping of spin states.
- Author
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Katz, Or and Firstenberg, Ofer
- Subjects
- *
OPTICAL pumping , *ELECTRON spin states , *SPIN polarization , *DIPOLE interactions , *OPTICAL polarization - Abstract
Optical pumping is an efficient method for initializing and maintaining atomic spin ensembles in a well-defined quantum spin state. Standard optical pumping methods orient the spins by transferring photonic angular momentum to spin polarization. Generally the spins are oriented along the propagation direction of the light due to selection rules of the dipole interaction. Here we present and experimentally demonstrate that by modulating the light polarization, angular momentum perpendicular to the optical axis can be transferred efficiently to cesium vapor. The transverse pumping scheme employs transversely oriented dark states, allowing for control of the trajectory of the spins on the Bloch sphere. This new mechanism is suitable and potentially beneficial for diverse applications, particularly in quantum metrology. The ability to orient atomic spins via optical pumping has important implications for the fields of quantum information and metrology, and while polarization typically occurs parallel to the optical axis, it is often desirable to orient spins along a transverse magnetic field. This work demonstrates an optical pumping scheme for transverse orientation of the spin of cesium vapor, allowing control of spin trajectories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2019
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