Experimental demonstration of a diode laser-excited optical filter in atomic Rb vapor

A narrow-bandwidth optical filter using diode-laser-pumped atomic Rb vapor has been demonstrated. Excellent rejection of off-resonant laser photons has been achieved. The measured detection bandwidth was 1.18 GHz at the Rb cell temperature of 150 degrees C, which shows a good agreement with the calculated detection bandwidth of 1.02 GHz. The quantum efficiency of the atomic Rb vapor laser-excited optical filter is linearly dependent on the diode laser pumping power.<
>