Fluctuations in the process of resonant atomic absorption: laser phase-noise to amplitude-noise conversion

James Camparo

doi:10.1117/12.497475

16 May 2003 Fluctuations in the process of resonant atomic absorption: laser phase-noise to amplitude-noise conversion

James Camparo

Proceedings Volume 5111, Fluctuations and Noise in Photonics and Quantum Optics; (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.497475
Event: SPIE's First International Symposium on Fluctuations and Noise, 2003, Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States

Abstract

In the weak-field limit, resonant absorption is viewed as a passive process: an optical field impinges on an atom, and within some cross-sectional area the atom has a high probability for absorbing the radiant energy. Absorption, however, is a dynamic process. Consequently, though a singlemode laser is highly monochromatic, the field's phase noise (i.e., quantum noise) generates fluctuations in the atom's absorption cross section. Laser phase noise (PM) thereby gives rise to absorption cross-section noise, and hence fluctuations in the medium's transmitted light intensity (AM). Following a brief overview of the PM-to-AM conversion process, we consider the role of collisions on PM-to-AM conversion efficiency in the weak-field regime. Specifically, the relative-intensity-noise of a diode laser, tuned to the Rb D1 transition, was measured after it passed through a rubidium/nitrogen vapor. Varying the nitrogen pressure, we found that rapid collisional dephasing decreased the efficiency of PM-to-AM conversion. Examining the rubidium hyperfine transition lineshape as a function of nitrogen pressure, we then found that pressure-broadening increased the transition's signal-to-noise ratio when limited by the PM-to-AM conversion process.

Citation Download Citation

James Camparo "Fluctuations in the process of resonant atomic absorption: laser phase-noise to amplitude-noise conversion", Proc. SPIE 5111, Fluctuations and Noise in Photonics and Quantum Optics, (16 May 2003); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.497475

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