Dark Raman resonances due to Ramsey interference in vacuum vapor cells

We investigate the evolution of the atomic coherence between Zeeman sublevels with Delta m(F)=2 in the region between pump and probe laser beams, in a Rb vapor cell using the Hanle configuration. The transmission of the probe beam, placed inside the hollow pump beam, shows the narrowing of the Hanle resonance (at external magnetic field B=0) by Ramsey fringes whose separation from the central peak depends on the distance between the beams. The temporal evolution of the pump induced alignment is evident from the changes of the probe transmission spectra with increasing the angle between linear polarizations of each beam. Experimental results are in agreement with the results of the model which calculates probe fluorescence by solving time-dependent optical Bloch equations, from the time when atom enters the pump beam to the time when it leaves the probe beam. The results for total excited state populations were averaged over atomic velocities distribution.