Eur. Phys. J. D (2017) 71: 216
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2017-80291-6

Regular Article

Magnetic field-induced modification of selection rules for Rb D₂ line monitored by selective reflection from a vapor nanocell

¹ Institute for Physical Research, NAS of Armenia, Ashtarak - 2 0203, Armenia
² Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire Carnot de Bourgogne, UMR CNRS 6303, Université Bourgogne – Franche-Comté, BP 47870, 21078 Dijon Cedex, France

^a e-mail: emmanuel.klinger@u-bourgogne.fr

Received: 15 February 2017
Received in final form: 28 April 2017
Published online: 29 August 2017

Abstract

Magnetic field-induced giant modification of the probabilities of five transitions of 5S_{1 / 2},F_g = 2 → 5P_{3 / 2},F_e = 4 of ⁸⁵Rb and three transitions of 5S_{1 / 2},F_g = 1 → 5P_{3 / 2},F_e = 3 of ⁸⁷Rb forbidden by selection rules for zero magnetic field has been observed experimentally and described theoretically for the first time. For the case of excitation with circularly-polarized (σ⁺) laser radiation, the probability of F_g = 2,m_F = − 2 → F_e = 4,m_F = − 1 transition becomes the largest among the seventeen transitions of ⁸⁵Rb F_g = 2 → F_e = 1,2,3,4 group, and the probability of F_g = 1, m_F = − 1 → F_e = 3,m_F = 0 transition becomes the largest among the nine transitions of ⁸⁷Rb F_g = 1 → F_e = 0,1,2,3 group, in a wide range of magnetic field 200–1000 G. Complete frequency separation of individual Zeeman components was obtained by implementation of derivative selective reflection technique with a 300 nm-thick nanocell filled with Rb, allowing formation of narrow optical resonances. Possible applications are addressed. The theoretical model is well consistent with the experimental results.