1. Longitudinal Spin Relaxation of Optically Pumped Rubidium Atoms in Solid Parahydrogen
- Author
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Jonathan D. Weinstein, Andrew N. Kanagin, Tim Christy, Chase Hartzell, Sunil Upadhyay, Takamasa Momose, W. Patrick Arnott, and David Patterson
- Subjects
Materials science ,Spin states ,Physics::Optics ,General Physics and Astronomy ,Order (ring theory) ,chemistry.chemical_element ,02 engineering and technology ,021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology ,Spin isomers of hydrogen ,01 natural sciences ,Rubidium ,Crystal ,Optical pumping ,Neon ,chemistry ,Impurity ,0103 physical sciences ,Physics::Atomic and Molecular Clusters ,Physics::Atomic Physics ,Atomic physics ,010306 general physics ,0210 nano-technology - Abstract
We have grown crystals of solid parahydrogen using a single closed-cycle cryostat. We have doped the crystals with rubidium atoms at densities on the order of ${10}^{17}\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$ and used optical pumping to polarize the spin state of the implanted atoms. The optical spectrum of the rubidium atoms shows larger broadening than previous work in which the rubidium was implanted in solid argon or neon. However, the optical pumping behavior is significantly improved, with both a larger optical pumping signal and a longer longitudinal relaxation time. The spin relaxation time shows a strong dependence on orthohydrogen impurity levels in the crystal, as well as the applied magnetic field. Current performance is comparable to state-of-the-art solid state systems at comparable spin densities, with potential for improvement at higher parahydrogen purities.
- Published
- 2016