Velocity distribution of laser-induced atomic polarization moments in antirelaxation-coated cell and magneto-optic rotation

It is shown with the use of the solution of the Boltzmann equation for laser pumping in a cell with antirelaxation coating that the velocity distribution of atomic polarization moments (PMs) is essentially dependent on the value of the magnetic field H. The z-velocity distribution of PMs in a low field, H approximate to 10(-4) A/m, is a Maxwellian one with a small admixture of an almost monokinetic one. At larger field the same distribution remains for longitudinal alignment, but for transverse alignment the Maxwellian part of the distribution disappears (at H similar to 1 A/m). It appears that the radial velocity distribution is also dependent on the field H. A calculation accounting for wall Maxwellization in low field gives for the pumping power needed to saturate the magneto-optic rotation a value similar to the experimentally determined value. It is shown that the known semiphenomenological theory neglecting the Maxwellization gives an acceptable description of magneto-optic rotation only for high (approximate to 1 A/m) magnetic field. (C) 2005 Optical Society of America.