Differentially detected coherent population trapping resonances excited by orthogonally polarized laser fields.
We demonstrate the excitation and low-noise differential detection of a coherent population trapping (CPT) resonance with two modulated optical fields with orthogonal circular polarizations. When a microwave phase delay of lambda/4 is introduced in the optical path of one of the fields, the difference in the power transmitted through the cell in each polarization shows a narrow, dispersive resonance. The differential detection allows a high degree of suppression of laser-induced noise and will enable nearly shot-noise-limited operation of atomic frequency references and magnetometers based on CPT.
Rosenbluh
Michael
M
Shah
Vishal
V
Knappe
Svenja
S
Kitching
John
J