Double Hanle resonance dependence on light polarization angle and transverse magnetic field direction

Abstract We present experimental and theoretical investigations of the dependence of double Hanle resonance spectrum on the light polarization angle and the direction of the applied transverse magnetic field (TMF). The experiments are done for F g = 2 → F e = 1 transition of 87 Rb D 1 line using a rubidium vapor cell containing buffer gas. We show that a small light polarization component along the direction of TMF introduces asymmetry in the double Hanle resonance signal. Both the magnitude and sign of asymmetry in the signal are sensitive to the TMF orientation, suggesting a possible method for in-situ measurement of the direction of the magnetic fields generated by the coils. The physical origin of this asymmetry is explained by considering the redistribution of population among the ground-state Zeeman sublevels in the presence of TMF. In addition, we systematically vary both the polarization angle and TMF direction to study their effect on the line profile of Hanle resonances. We demonstrate that a double Hanle resonance changes to a dark Hanle resonance by rotating the light polarization vector irrespective of the TMF direction. We have developed a simple theoretical model based on a degenerate two-level system to explain our experimental observations.