Hyperfine frequency shift and Zeeman relaxation in alkali-metal-vapor cells with antirelaxation alkene coating
Eric P. Corsini, Todor Karaulanov, Mikhail Balabas, and Dmitry Budker
Accepted
An alkene based anti-relaxation coating for alkali vapor cells exhibiting Zeeman relaxation times up to 77 s was recently identified by Balabas et al. The long relaxation times, two orders of magnitude longer than in paraffin (alkane) coated cells, motivate revisiting the question of what the mechanism is underlying wall-collision induced relaxation and renew interest in applications of alkali vapor cells to secondary frequency standards. We measure the width and frequency shift of the ground state hyperfine mF=0\chemarrowmF=0 transition (clock resonance) in vapor cells with 85Rb and 87Rb atoms, with an alkene anti-relaxation coating. We find that the frequency shift is slightly larger than for paraffin coated cells and that the Zeeman linewidth scales linearly with the hyperfine frequency shift.