Optical Pumping

Experiment Guide
1.  Pre-Lab
2.  parts 1-3
3.  parts 4 -5
Related Material
1.  MIT Notes
2.  CalTech Notes
Useful Links
1.  Nobel Prize

 

 

 

 

 

Overview

Modern optical pumping techniques were introduced by Alfred Kastler, a French Physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1966 for his contributions. In this experiment you will explore optical pumping and its application to fundamental experiments in atomic physics. The atom you will be studying is rubidium, which is a very good approximation as a one-electron atom due to the closed shell formed by the core electrons.