Effects of Organic Film Morphology on the Formation of Rb Clusters on Surface Coatings used in Alkali Metal Atom Magnetometer Cells

Published

January 1, 2009

Author(s)

D. M. Rampulla, N Oncel, E Abelev, Y Yi, Svenja A. Knappe, S Bernasek

Abstract

Coated atomic resonance cells are used in atomic magnetometers, atomic clocks, and magneto-optical traps. Recent work has shown that there is a significant difference in surface relaxation rates of spin-polarized alkali atoms on an OTS monolayer coating as compared to an OTS bilayer coating. The morphology and composition of Rb vapor-exposed monolayer and bilayer films of octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) has been studied with atomic force microscopy (AFM) and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). On OTS monolayers, numerous small (less than or equal to} 500 nm wide) Rb islands were found to nucleate at the boundaries of the approximately} 1 – 2 υm wide organic domains. However, on OTS bilayers, singular large (approximately} 3 υm wide) Rb islands were found. These results suggest that alkali island formation as mediated by surface structure could be an important parameter affecting the anti-relaxation behavior of organic coating films used in atomic magnetometer and clock resonance cells.

Citation

Journal of Applied Physics

Volume

94

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

surface coatings, alkali atoms, magnetometers, OTS, silanes

Citation

Rampulla, D. , Oncel, N. , Abelev, E. , Yi, Y. , Knappe, S. and Bernasek, S. (2009), Effects of Organic Film Morphology on the Formation of Rb Clusters on Surface Coatings used in Alkali Metal Atom Magnetometer Cells, Journal of Applied Physics, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=842542 (Accessed April 25, 2024)