Photo Extraction of Rubidium Atoms from the Bulk of a Photonic Crystal

Abstract

The photo extraction of rubidium atoms from the bulk of a photonic crystal has been investigated. It has been found that in the case of irradiation of the crystal in the stop band where the desorbing light does not penetrate deeply, the separation of atoms occurs practically from its surface, so that the density of desorbed atoms in the cell decreases only exponentially. In the case of irradiation of the crystal outside the stop band, the bulk of the crystal is irradiated almost completely. In this connection, the exponential decrease in the density of atoms in the cell is replaced by its relatively slow reduction of diffusion nature. The bulk diffusion coefficient of rubidium atoms in the photonic crystal was measured to be 2 · 10⁻⁸ cm²/s.