Optics and Laser Physics Laboratory Laser Spectroscopy, Laser Isotope Separation and Laser Scattering

Foreword      

Preface          

List of Figures          

List of Tables

About the Author

Symbols

1. History of our laser experiments

1.1       Laser isotope separation laboratory

1.2       Laser and optics laboratory

1.3       Teaching laboratory: Experimental Physics V

1.4       Advanced laboratory

1.5       Current Perspectives: From AVLIS to Compact LIBS

1.6       Summary

1.7       Concluding Remarks

2          Saturated Absorption Spectroscopy

2.1       Description of Saturated Absorption Spectroscopy

2.2       Multilevel Atoms and Crossover Resonances

2.3       The Saturated Absorption Spectrometer

2.4       Semiquantitative Description of Two-Level Atoms

2.4.1    Excited and Ground State Populations

2.4.2    Calculation of Absolute Transition Strengths

2.4.3    Spontaneous emission and linewidth

2.4.4    Transition Rates

2.4.5    Reduction to 5 levels for the ⁶Li - D₂ line

2.5       Energy Level Diagram

2.6       Concluding Remarks

2.7       Problems

3          Optical Instrumentation and Detection

3.1       Beam Shaping and Geometrical Optics

3.1.1    Beam Preparation and Collimation

3.1.2    Ray Tracing Simulation of Aspheric Collimation

3.1.2.1 Mathematical Model

3.1.2.2 Ray Propagation and Wavefront Verification

3.1.3    Anamorphic Prism Pairs

3.1.3.1 Mathematical Foundation

3.1.3.2 Design Condition: Normal Exit

3.1.3.3 Simulation Results and Application

3.2       Beam Expanders

3.2.1    Keplerian Configuration

3.2.2    Galilean Configuration

3.3       Polarization Control

3.3.1    Wave Retarders

3.3.2    Polarizing Splitters and Ray Tracing

3.3.3    Mathematical Formalism: Jones Calculus

3.4       Fundamentals of Interference: Complex Notation

3.5       Interferometers

3.5.1    The Michelson Interferometer

3.5.2    The Fabry-Perot Interferometer (FPI)           

3.6       Dispersive Elements: Diffraction Gratings

3.6.1    The Grating Equation and Angular Dispersion

3.6.2    External Cavity Geometries

3.7       Concluding Remarks

3.8       Conceptual Problems and Analysis

4          Vapor Generation and Vacuum

4.1       Lithium isotope separation hardware

4.1.1    The Heat Pipe Oven

4.1.2    Lithium Ion Source

4.1.3    Magnetic Sector

4.1.4    Ion Charge Measurement

4.1.5    Einzel Lens Array

4.2       Preparing the Vacuum for Laser Cooling

4.2.1    Observation optical cell: discussion of different methods

4.2.2    Introduction of Neutral Atoms Using a Rubidium Get-

ter

4.3       Concluding Remarks

5          Diode Laser Characteristics and Tuning

5.1       Introduction

5.2       Historical Perspective of Tunable Lasers

5.3       Free-Running Diode Tuning: Characteristics and Limitations

5.3.1    Electrical Connection and Polarity Verification

5.3.2    Experimental Procedure: Temperature Tuning

5.3.3    Results and Mode-Hopping

5.4       External Cavity Diode Laser without Anti-Reflection-Coating (Littrow Configuration)

5.4.1    Beam Preparation and Collimation

5.4.2    Principle of Operation and Geometry

5.4.3    Optical Alignment and Feedback Verification

5.4.4    Spectral Tuning to the Lithium Line

5.5       Spectral Selectivity and Mode Competition Analysis

5.5.1    Simulation Parameters and Resolution

5.6       External cavity diode laser with Anti-Reflection Coating in Lit-

trow configuration.

5.6.1    Results of Mode Competition

5.6.2    Mode-Hop-Free Tuning Geometry

5.7       Design of the Fine-Tuning Mechanism

5.7.1    Mechanical Architecture: The Aluminum Angle Solu-

tion

5.7.2    Mode-Hop-Free Tuning Geometry

5.8       Principles of operation of the grazing-incidence grating diode

laser cavity

5.8.1    Practical Implementation: Selecting Diode Sources

5.9       Concluding Remarks

6          Lithium Doppler-free absorption spectroscopy

6.1       Introduction

6.2       Experimental Setup

6.3       Results

6.4       Conclusion

6.5       Concluding Remarks

7          Lithium Doppler-limited Absorption Spectroscopy

7.1       Introduction

7.2       Theoretical Background

7.3       Experimental Setup

7.4       Results

7.5       Discussion and Conclusions

7.6       Concluding Remarks

8          Rubidium absorption spectroscopy

8.1       Introduction

8.2       Background

8.3       Experiment

8.4       Results

8.5       Discussion and Conclusion

8.6       Concluding Remarks

8.7       Normalized Dipole Matrix Elements

9          Lithium resonance ionization spectroscopy

9.1       Introduction

9.2       Theoretical Background and Excitation Dynamics

9.3       Experimental Architecture

9.4       Results

9.5       Discussion and Conclusion

9.6       Concluding Remarks

10        Lithium Isotope Separation

10.1     Introduction

10.2     Background

10.3     Lithium Isotope Separation Experimental Setup

10.4     Laser System

10.5     Isotope Separation Apparatus

10.6     Experimental Overview

10.7     Results

10.8     Discussion and Conclusion

10.9     Concluding Remarks

11        Laser Cooling

11.1     The Pump and the Probe Lasers

11.2     Energy Levels and Cooling Transitions

11.3     Spectral Line Identification

11.4     Pound-Drever-Hall Stabilization

11.5     Installing the MOT optics

11.6     Polarizing Optics and Circular Polarization

11.7     Anti-Helmholtz Coils for the MOT

11.8     NIR Camera Cloud Observation

11.9     Analog Laser Intensity Control

11.10   Results

11.11   Discussion

11.12   Concluding Remarks

12        Mie Scattering          

12.1     Introduction

12.2     Theory

12.3     Experiment

12.4     Results

12.5     Discussion and Conclusions

12.6     Concluding Remarks

13        Thomson scattering

13.1     Introduction

13.2     Theory

13.3     Thomson scattering Experiment

13.4     Results

13.5     Conclusion

13.6     Concluding Remarks

14        Thomson scattering with impurities

14.1     Introduction

14.2     Different kind of ions in plasma

14.3     Experiment

14.4     Results: Thomson Scattering Spectra in Multi-component Plas-

mas

14.5     Conclusion

14.6     Concluding Remarks

15        Passive Q-Switch Characterization with Non-Gaussian Beams

15.1     Introduction

15.2     Background

15.2.1  Gaussian beam equations

15.3     Experiment

15.3.1  Experimental setup

15.4     Loading and Triggering Circuits

15.5     The Nd:YAG Laser Cavity

15.5.1  Data collection

15.5.2  Energy density distribution measurement along a line

15.5.3  Absorbance measurements

15.6     Results

15.7     Conclusion

15.8     Concluding Remarks

16        Compact Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy for Lithium Detection

16.1     Introduction

16.2     Experimental Setup

16.2.1  Alignment Strategy

16.2.2  Signal Monitoring and Acquisition

16.3     Results

16.4     Conclusion

Bibliography

Biography

Ignacio Olivares is Associate Professor at the Physics Department, Universidad de Santiago de Chile where he installed a laser spectroscopy laboratory. He constructed a magneto optical trap and demonstrated, for the first time in Chile, laser cooling and trapping of atoms. In 2017 he was designated Senior Member of Optica. Since this time, he has been teaching optics, theoretical and experimental physics, and created an advanced laser spectroscopy course with tunable diode lasers. Today he continues to work on fundamental aspects of laser development.