Harvie, Graeme John (2020). Raman gain and lasing from cold potassium atoms in a ring cavity. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.
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Harvie2020PhD.pdf
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Abstract
This thesis describes an experiment with a cloud of magneto-optically trapped Potassium-39 spatially overlapped with the modes of a high-finesse ring cavity. Optical gain was observed with the system in steady state, without any beams additional to the normal cooling and repump beams in a potassium-39 magneto-optical trap. This was found to operate on a Raman gain mechanism between atomic hyperfine ground states, which has not been seen under similar conditions with other atomic species. Lasing into the cavity modes was then studied, with a particular focus on aspects specific to the ring cavity geometry. This showed a directional bistability and non-reciprocity. The bistability can be described by existing theory, but the mechanism of the non-reciprocity is unknown, despite a detailed investigation. The second order coherence time of the system was explored below threshold, and demonstrates a strong dependence on gain, which may have applications in the detection of extremely small gains.
| Type of Work: | Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.) | |||||||||
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| Award Type: | Doctorates > Ph.D. | |||||||||
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| Licence: | All rights reserved | |||||||||
| College/Faculty: | Colleges (2008 onwards) > College of Engineering & Physical Sciences | |||||||||
| School or Department: | School of Physics and Astronomy | |||||||||
| Funders: | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council | |||||||||
| Subjects: | Q Science > QC Physics | |||||||||
| URI: | http://etheses.bham.ac.uk/id/eprint/9938 |
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