Alignment-to-orientation conversion in a magnetic field at nonlinear excitation of the D2 line of rubidium: Experiment and theory

We studied alignment-to-orientation conversion caused by excited-state level crossings in a nonzero magnetic field of both atomic rubidium isotopes. Experimental measurements were performed on the transitions of the D-2 line of rubidium. These measured signals were described by a theoretical model that takes into account all neighboring hyperfine transitions, the mixing of magnetic sublevels in an external magnetic field, the coherence properties of the exciting laser radiation, and the Doppler effect. In the experiments, laser-induced fluorescence components were observed at linearly polarized excitation and their difference was taken afterwards. By observing the two oppositely circularly polarized components, we were able to see structures not visible in the difference graphs, which give deeper insight into the processes responsible for these signals. We studied how these signals are dependent on intensity and how they are affected when the exciting laser is tuned to different hyperfine transitions. The comparison between experiment and theory was carried out fulfilling the nonlinear absorption conditions. The theoretical curves described the experimental measurements satisfactorily, reproducing even small features in the shapes of the curves.