Role of transfer of coherence in the enhanced absorption Hanle effect with two optical fields

Abstract

The enhanced absorption Hanle effect has been studied for a closed transition Jg = 2 → Je = 3 with a transverse magnetic field in the presence of a coupling optical field. From an analysis of the individual probe and coupling field absorption profiles, it is shown that the Hanle electromagnetically induced absorption is governed by the transfer of Δm = ±2 and Δm = ±1 Zeeman coherences from the excited state to the ground state via spontaneous emission. The individual coherence contributions are governed by the intensity ratio of the optical fields. We show by computation and experiment that the magnetic field dependence of the forward scattered intensity can be used to distinguish the transfer of coherence contributions to the Hanle profile.

Effect of light ellipticity and polarization angle on the transient dynamics of the ground-state Hanle effect

“…These phenomena have been extensively used in atomic magnetometry [8], light storage and quantum memory [9,10], and to control and measure vector light shifts [11]. In the Hanle effect, a magnetic resonance is observed by monitoring either transmission [12] or absorption [13] of light through an atomic medium. In this phenomenon, the atomic coherence is achieved by coupling two degenerate Zeeman sublevels of the same hyperfine ground state of an alkali atom, and then this coupling is controlled by applying a scanning magnetic field.…”