Abstract:
A vessel, filled with a vapor, the quantum transition of which is to be detected, has photosensitive transducer means applied around the walls thereof in a region remote from the axis of a pumping beam applied to the vessel, so that the photosensitive transducers are responsive to essentially all radiated energy impinging on the walls of the vessel at random angles with respect to the axis of the pumping beam; the cell is included in apparatus including an RF generator of variable frequency, the output of which is coupled to the cell to generate within the cell a radio-frequency electromagnetic field. The frequency of the RF generator is controlled by a feedback control circuit coupled to the output from the photosensitive transducers, so that, when their output is a maximum, the frequency of the RF generator will be locked in.