Notes from the Physics Teaching Lab: Optical Pumping

Abstract

We describe a series of experiments done using a commercially available optical pumping apparatus that is currently being used in physics teaching labs at over one hundred universities. Our focus here is to provide an extensive and detailed examination of the capabilities of this instrument, including numerous examples of measurements and data analysis, presented as a supplement to the manufacturers user manual. Our hope is that instructors using this or similar optical pumping instruments will find the experiments described here useful for designing and implementing the curricula in their own physics teaching labs.