Electromagnetically induced transparency in a V-system with $^{87}$Rb vapor in the hyperfine Paschen-Back regime

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in a rubidium-87 vapor under a strong magnetic field, revealing clearer EIT features and highlighting the role of state coherence and decay processes.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed experimental and theoretical analysis of EIT in a V-system in the hyperfine Paschen-Back regime with a strong magnetic field.

Findings

EIT features are more distinct with a 0.6 T magnetic field.

The model shows good qualitative agreement with experimental results.

Excited state decay significantly influences the transparency feature.

Abstract

We observe EIT in a V-system in a thermal rubidium-87 vapour in the hyperfine Paschen-Back regime, realised with a 0.6 T axial magnetic field. In this regime energy levels are no longer degenerate and EIT features from different initial states are distinct, which we show produces a much cleaner feature than without a magnetic field. We compare our results to a model using the time-dependent Lindblad master equation, and having averaged over a distribution of interaction times, see good qualitative agreement for a range of pump Rabi frequencies. Excited state decay into both ground states is shown to play a prominent role in the generation of the transparency feature, which arises mainly due to transfer of population into the ground state not coupled by the probe beam. We use the model to investigate the importance of coherence in this feature, showing that its contribution is more significant at smaller pump Rabi frequencies.