Paraffin coated rubidium cell with an internal atomic vapor source

TL;DR

This study investigates relaxation and diffusion of rubidium atoms in a specially coated cell with an internal vapor source, providing insights into atomic behavior relevant for quantum optics and atomic clocks.

Contribution

It introduces a novel rubidium cell design with an internal vapor source and analyzes atomic relaxation, diffusion, and coating effects with experimental measurements and a simple theoretical model.

Findings

Measured relaxation times and bounce counts of rubidium atoms.

Determined adsorption time of rubidium on paraffin coating.

Estimated diffusion coefficient of rubidium in paraffin.

Abstract

We present the results of a study on relaxation and diffusion processes of rubidium atoms in a rubidium cell with an internal vapor source. The cell is an evacuated glass bulb, which is characterized in that the source of atomic vapors in the form of a metal film Rb is evenly distributed throughout the inner surface of the bulb, and the paraffin film is uniformly distributed over the entire area and over the metal surface. By using laser optical pumping, we performed measurements of the relaxation time and the average number of bounces of optical pumped rubidium atoms in the bulb. We have measured the adsorption time of rubidium atoms by paraffin coating and rubidium atoms diffusion coefficient in paraffin used. A simple model of the pumping and atomic diffusion processes in the cell is discussed as well.