Faraday dichroic beam splitter for Raman light using an isotopically pure alkali-metal-vapor cell

Abstract

We present an application of the Faraday effect to produce a narrow band atomic filter in an alkali metal vapor. In our experiment two Raman beams separated in frequency by the ground state hyperfine splitting in 87Rb are produced using an EOM and then filtered using the Faraday effect in an isotopically pure 85Rb thermal vapor. An experimental transmission spectra for the filter is presented along with a theoretical calculation. The performance of the filter is then demonstrated and characterized using a Fabry-Perot etalon. For a temperature of 70 degrees and a longitudinal magnetic field of 80 G a suppression to -18 dB is achieved, limited by the quality of the polarizers.