Payton Ramsdill

Abstract:

Our project focuses on the study of optical pumping of Potassium with the goal of creating an electron spin filter. Over the summer we conducted research which has furthered our understanding of the properties of Potassium, by using an experimental setup which uses a laser in order to excite gaseous atoms of potassium. From this we found when the laser was absorbed by the potassium and used this data to determine the approximate relationship between the temperature of the cell containing the potassium and the density of its gaseous form. This will allow for further experimentation in our lab relating to optical pumping and eventually the creation of an electron spin filter.