Magneto optical trapping of potassium-39 in a ring cavity

Pahwa, Komal (2014). Magneto optical trapping of potassium-39 in a ring cavity. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

This thesis focuses on the construction and development of an experiment to study cold potassium atoms in an optical ring cavity. Firstly we load a potassium-39 magneto optical trap (MOT) inside the ring cavity. To achieve this a laser system, rectangular magnetic coils system and vacuum system are designed and constructed. To stabilise the laser system, a detailed study of various potassium spectroscopy techniques is undertaken and the reference laser is suitably locked to the magnetically induced spectroscopy. We load an ensemble of 10\(^5\) potassium atoms inside the ring cavity mode and study their collective strong coupling with the cavity field. In the collective strong coupling regime, the photons are coherently exchanged between the atomic ensemble and cavity field. This rate of exchange is determined by the singlephoton Rabi frequency `2\(g\)' which must be larger than the cavity field decay rate `2\(k\)' and atomic spontaneous emission rate `2\(ᵧ\)'. As a result of this coupling, the peak in the cavity transmission signal undergoes a splitting known as `vacuum Rabi splitting' (or `normal mode splitting'). The vacuum Rabi splitting has been realised and measured to be ~ 2\(π\). 18 MHz in our system.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):