Experimental study of laser-detected magnetic resonance based on atomic alignment

Abstract

We present an experimental study of the spectra produced by optical--radio-frequency double resonance in which resonant linearly polarized laser light is used in the optical pumping and detection processes. We show that the experimental spectra obtained for cesium are in excellent agreement with a very general theoretical model developed in our group [Weis, Bison, and Pazgalev, Phys. Rev. A 74, 033401 (2006)] and we investigate the limitations of this model. Finally, the results are discussed in view of their use in the study of relaxation processes in aligned alkali-metal vapors.