Abstract

We report a combined theoretical and experimental study of the spectral and polarization dependence of near resonant radiation coherently backscattered from an ultracold gas of ⁸⁵Rb atoms. Measurements in an approximate 6 MHz range about the 5s ²S_1/2 → 5p²P_3/2, F=3 → F' =4 hyperfine transition are compared with simulations based on a realistic model of the experimental atomic density distribution. In the simulations, the influence of heating of the atoms in the vapor, magnetization of the vapor, finite spectral bandwidth, and other nonresonant hyperfine transitions are considered. Good agreement is found between the simulations and measurements.

© 2003 Optical Society of America