publication detail
Interplay between atomic alignment and orientation fluctuations in the spin noise spectroscopy of metastable helium
AUTHORS
Document type
Journal articles
Résumé
We perform spin noise spectroscopy experiments in metastable helium atoms at room temperature, with a probe light whose frequency is blue detuned from the D0 line. Both circular birefringence fluctuations (Faraday noise) and linear birefringence fluctuations (ellipticity noise) are explored theoretically and experimentally. In particular, in the latter case, it is shown that two noise resonances are isolated at the Larmor frequency and at twice the Larmor frequency. The behavior of these resonances with the orientation of the probe field polarization is analyzed and explained for large probe detunings. Moreover, the simple structure of metastable helium allows us to probe, model and explain the changes in the behavior of these peaks when the probe detuning is reduced, inducing an optical pumping, which leads to circular and linear dichroisms.