Abstract
We show experimentally that the presence of a buffer gas in a rubidium vapor cell modifies significantly the nonlinear magneto-optical rotation of polarization of near-resonant light propagating through the cell. We observe not only the well-known narrowing of the nonlinear magneto-optical resonances, but also changes in their shape and visibility. We explain these effects in terms of coherence-preserving, velocity-changing collisions between rubidium and buffer gas atoms.
© 2005 Optical Society of America
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