Ramsey-like measurement of the decoherence rate between Zeeman sublevels

Two-photon processes that involve different sublevels of the ground state of an atom, are highly sensitive to depopulation and decoherence within the ground state. For example, the spectral width of electromagnetically induced transparency resonances in a Lambda-type system, are strongly affected by the ground-state depopulation and decoherence rates. We present a direct measurement of decay rates between hyperfine and Zeeman sublevels in the ground state of Rb-87 vapor. Similar to the relaxation-in-the-dark technique, pumping lasers are used to prealign the atomic vapor in a well-defined quantum state. The free propagation of the atomic state is monitored using a Ramsey-like method. Coherence times in the range 1-10 ms were measured for room temperature atomic vapor. In the range of the experimental parameters used in this study, the dominant process inducing Zeeman decoherence is the spin-exchange collisions between rubidium atoms.