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Using frequency-narrowed, tunable laser diode arrays with integrated volume holographic gratings for spin-exchange optical pumping at high resonant fluxes and xenon densities

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Abstract

Next-generation laser diode arrays with integrated ‘on-chip’ volume holographic gratings can provide high power with spectrally narrowed output that can be tuned about the rubidium D1 line—without causing significant changes to the laser’s flux or spectral profile. These properties were exploited to independently evaluate the effects of varying the laser centroid wavelength and power on batch-mode Rb/129Xe spin-exchange optical pumping (SEOP) as functions of xenon partial pressure and cell temperature. Locally optimized SEOP was often achieved with the laser tuned to either the red or blue side of the Rb D1 line; global optimization of SEOP was observed at lower cell temperatures and followed the D1 absorption profile, which was asymmetrically broadened and red-shifted from the nominal wavelength. The complex dependence of the optimal wavelength for laser excitation on the cell temperature and Xe density appears to result from an interplay between cell illumination and the Rb/129Xe spin-exchange rate, as well as [Xe]cell-dependent changes to the Rb absorption lineshape that are in qualitative agreement with expectations based on previous work [Romalis et al., Phys. Rev. A, 56:4569–4578, (1997)], but significantly greater in magnitude. These next-generation lasers provide a ∼2–3-fold improvement in 129Xe polarization compared to conventional broadband lasers.

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Notes

  1. Portions of this work were presented previously in [33, 34, 37], and [41].

  2. Rb runaway [44] involves increases to [Rb]cell due to laser-induced cell heating that occurs in a self-reinforcing fashion (i.e., heat from the absorbed laser light increases [Rb]cell, which then elevates laser light absorption, leading to even more heating and further increases to [Rb]cell and the optical density—and hence worsening illumination throughout the cell). Large regions of ‘dark’ Rb give rise to lower cell-averaged 〈P Rb〉(and hence, P Xe).

  3. SEOP with this laser at full power (∼120 W, ∼1″ collimated beam diameter) typically resulted in lower 129Xe polarization—most likely due to uncontrolled laser heating of the cell. Indeed, once the OP cell reached the desired temperature, the oven heat could be turned off, and the cell temperature maintained simply by laser irradiation. Additionally, starting with a room-temperature OP cell, the laser could still heat the cell enough to induce sufficient Rb vaporization to generate low-field 129Xe NMR signals.

  4. This shared T 3/10 dependence in the van der Waals model arises from the linear dependences that the shift and asymmetry have on the linewidth; the linewidth in this model has a dependence on the average collision velocity, v th, going as \(\propto v_{\mathrm{th}}^{3/5}\), which in turn is given by v th=(2kT/μ)1/2 (where k is Boltzmann’s constant and μ is the reduced mass).

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Drs. B. Saam (U. of Utah), G. Schrank (PNNL), M. McCarroll (SIUC), and A. Coy (Magritek) for helpful conversations and correspondence; G. Moroz (SIUC) for expert machining; and the late K. Owens (UMSL) for glassblowing. N.W. is currently supported by the NSF International Research Fellowship Program (OISE-0966393). B.M.G. is a Cottrell Scholar of Research Corporation. Work at SIUC was supported by NSF (CAREER CHE-0349255, REU DMR-0552800), Research Corporation, and SIU ORDA & MTC. M.J.B acknowledges the generous support of the School of Medical & Surgical Sciences, University of Nottingham and GE Healthcare-Amersham.

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Author notes

  1. N. Whiting

    Present address: Sir Peter Mansfield Magnetic Resonance Centre, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK

  2. P. Nikolaou

    Present address: Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 37232, USA

  3. N. A. Eschmann

    Present address: Department of Chemistry, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, 62901, USA

    N. Whiting, P. Nikolaou, N. A. Eschmann & B. M. Goodson

  2. Sir Peter Mansfield Magnetic Resonance Centre, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK

    M. J. Barlow

  3. QPC Lasers Division, Laser Operations LLC, Sylmar, CA, 91342, USA

    R. Lammert, J. Ungar, W. Hu & L. Vaissie

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Whiting, N., Nikolaou, P., Eschmann, N.A. et al. Using frequency-narrowed, tunable laser diode arrays with integrated volume holographic gratings for spin-exchange optical pumping at high resonant fluxes and xenon densities. Appl. Phys. B 106, 775–788 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-012-4924-x

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