Self-sustained spin precession in an optical tristable system

Abstract

The dynamical behavior of a Fabry-Perot cavity filled with atoms having Zeeman sub-levels in the ground state is investigated. Such a system is known to exhibit optical tristability, where the atomic spins are oriented parallel or antiparallel to the optical axis even for the linearly polarized incident light. It is found that, when a static magnetic field is applied transversely to the optical axis, self-sustained precession of the spin polarization occurs. Correspondingly, the σ+ and σ- components of the transmitted light are modulated at about the Larmor frequency. We also show that the Bloch equation describing the motion of the spin polarization in the cavity can be reduced to van der Pol's equation.