Optical pumping of rubidium atoms frozen in solid argon

Abstract

We have grown crystals of solid argon doped with rubidium atoms. The spectrum of the implanted atoms depends on the crystal-growth temperature and annealing history. We have used optical pumping to polarize the spin state of the implanted atoms and polarization spectroscopy to detect the spin state and measure the spin-relaxation time. In addition to the desired optical pumping, we also observed modification of the absorption spectrum of the rubidium due to the applied light.