title: Spontaneous noise spectroscopy of an atomic magnetic resonance
abstract: We have experimentally demonstrated a new type of noise spectroscopy, which requires neither amplitude nor frequency noise of the light source. A highly stabilized diode laser provides low-noise light for the optical magnetic resonance of Rb atoms. The laser light transmitted through the Rb vapor contains significant intensity fluctuations whose power spectrum has a distinct peak at the Larmor frequency. The fluctuations are spontaneously generated by the atoms and are attributed to the stochastic properties of the photon scattering which randomly interrupts the Larmor precession of the atomic magnetic moment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Keio University School of Medicine, 4-1-1 Hiyoshi, Yokohama, Kanagawa 223-8521, Japan.
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mitsui