Rigorous Theory of the Thin Vapor Layers Optical Properties: The Case of Specular Reflection of Atoms Colliding with the Walls

TL;DR

This paper develops a rigorous theoretical framework for understanding the optical properties of thin vapor layers, specifically addressing how atoms reflecting off walls affect spectral line profiles, absorption, and frequency shifts.

Contribution

It introduces a self-consistent model that accurately predicts spectral line shapes and shifts in thin vapor layers, accounting for atom-wall interactions and absorption effects.

Findings

Formulas reproduce complex spectral line dependence on layer thickness

Numerical determination of blueshift values is possible

Model aligns with experimental observations of atom-wall interactions

Abstract

The theory of the thin vapor layers linear optical properties is presented for the case of specular reflection of atoms colliding with the walls. The effects of light absorption and the shift in the resonance frequency are taken into account by means of self-consistent calculation of the field and polarization in a gaseous medium. The obtained formulas reproduce the complex dependence of the spectral line profile on the gas layer thickness and allow one to determine numerically the exact values of the blueshift.