Student's
Sheet
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Zeeman effect with a variable magnetic system and a
CMOS camera including the measurement software
(Item No.: P2511007)
Curricular Relevance
Experiment:
Zeeman effect with a
variable magnetic
Area of Expertise: Education Level: Topic: Subtopic:
system and a CMOS
Physik Hochschule Moderne Physik Quantenphysik
camera including the
measurement
software
Difficulty Preparation Time Execution Time Recommended Group Size
Difficult 1 Hour 2 Hours 2 Students
Additional Requirements: Experiment Variations:
PC
Keywords:
Bohr’s atomic model, quantisation of energy levels, electron spin, Bohr’s magneton, interference of electromagnetic waves, Fabry-Perot
interferometer
Overview
Short description
Principle
The “Zeeman effect” is the splitting up of the spectral lines of atoms within a magnetic field. The simplest is the splitting up of
one spectral line into three components called the “normal Zeeman effect”. The normal Zeeman effect is studied using a
cadmium spectral lamp as a specimen. The cadmium lamp is submitted to different magnetic flux densities and the splitting up
of the red cadmium line (643.8 nm) is investigated using a Fabry-Perot interferometer. The evaluation of the results leads to a
fairly precise value for Bohr’s magneton.
Fig. 1: Experimental setup with CMOS-camera.
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Student's Sheet
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Equipment
Position Material Bestellnr. Menge
1 Fabry-Perot interferometer 09050-03 1
2 Cadmium lamp for Zeeman effect 09050-20 1
3 Magnetic System, variable 06327-00 1
4 Power supply for spectral lamps 13662-97 1
5 Optical bench expert, l = 1000 mm 08282-00 1
6 Base for optical bench expert, adjustable 08284-00 2
7 Slide mount for optical bench expert, h = 30 mm 08286-01 7
8 Slide mount for optical bench expert, h = 80 mm 08286-02 2
9 Lens holder 08012-00 4
10 Lens, mounted, f +50 mm 08020-01 2
11 Lens, mounted, f +300 mm 08023-01 1
12 Iris diaphragm 08045-00 1
13 Polarising filter, on stem 08610-00 1
14 Polarization specimen, mica 08664-00 1
15 Diaphragm holder 08040-00 1
16 MOTIC Moticam 1CMOS Technology 63300-00 1
17 Holder for Moticam on optical bench and optical base plate 63300-01 1
Tasks
1. Using the Fabry-Perot interferometer, a self-made telescope, a CMOS-camera and measurement software, the splitting up
of the central line into two σ-lines is measured in wave numbers as a function of the magnetic flux density. In the classical
version where the CMOS-Camera is not available, a screen with scale and a sliding device are used to measure the
splitting.
2. From the results of point 1. a value for Bohr’s magneton is evaluated.
3. The light emitted within the direction of the magnetic field is qualitatively investigated.
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Set-up and procedure
The magnetic system is mounted with the two pole shoes in such a way that a gap large enough for the Cd-lamp ( )
remains for the Cd-lamp. The magnetic system has to be well tightened in such a way that the pole shoes cannot move later on
when the magnetic flux is established. The Cd-lamp is inserted into the gap without touching the pole shoes and connected to
the power supply for spectral lamps. The optical bench for investigation of the line splitting carries the following elements (their
approximate position in cm is given in brackets):
(80) CMOS-Camera
(73)
(45) Analyser
(39)
(33) Fabry-Perot Etalon
(25)
(20) Iris diaphragm
(20) Drilled pole-shoes
(0) Cd-spectral lamp on rotating table
The iris diaphragm is eliminated for initial adjustment and for the observation of the longitudinal Zeeman effect. During
observation of the transverse Zeeman effect the iris diaphragm is illuminated by the Cdlamp and such it acts as the light source.
The lens and a lens of , incorporated in the etalon, create a nearly parallel light beam which the Fabry-Perot
etalon needs for a proper interference pattern. The etalon contains a removable colour filter that lets the red cadmium line at
pass. The lens produces an interference pattern of rings which can be observed through . The ring diameters
can be measured using the CMOS-camera and the software supplied with it. In the classical version the interference pattern is
produced within the plane of the screen with a scale mounted on a slide mount which can laterally be displaced with a precision
of 1/100th of a millimeter. The measurement here can be done for instance, by systematic displacement of the slash
representing the „0“ of the scale.
Fig. 2: Arrangement of the optical components.
The initial adjustment is done in the following way:
The magnetic system is adjusted so that the center of the holes in the pole shoes lies about above the table. The optical
bench with all elements (except iris diaphragm and CMOS-camera) mounted, is then moved closer to the magnet in such a way
that one of the outlet holes of the pole shoes coincides with the previous position of the iris diaphragm. is then adjusted so
that the outlet hole is within the focal plane of it. All other optical elements of Fig. 2. are subsequently readjusted with respect to
their height correspondingly. The magnetic field strength is adjusted to approximately 700 mT by changing the distance between
the pole shoes (turn the spindle drive). If necessary, increase in light intensity of the Cd-lamp. The ring interference pattern in
axial direction is observed through L3 by the eye. The pattern must be centered and sharp which is eventually achieved by a
last, slight movement of the etalon (to the right or to the left) and by displacement of (vertically and horizontally).
Finally the CMOS-camera with the lens attached is mounted to the optical bench and adjusted in horizontal and vertical
position as well as in tilt and focus until a clear picture of the ring pattern is visible on the computer screen. For installation and
use of the camera and software please refer to the manual supplied with the camera.
Hint: best results are achieved when the experiment is carried out in a darkened room.
The magnet is now turned by , the iris diaphragm is inserted and the analyzer turned until the -line (explanation follows)
disappears completely and the two -lines appear clearly visible.
Remark:
For later evaluations the calibration curve of the magnetic flux density versus the pole shoe distance has to be traced previously.
This can be done if a Teslameter, digital (13610-93) with Hall probe, tangential (13610-02) is available. Otherwise the results of
Fig. 3 can be used. The curve of Fig. 3 was traced by measuring the flux density in the center of the gap in the absence of the
Cd-lamp. For the evaluations these center-values were increased by to account for the non-uniform flux distribution within
the gap. You will find additional information on the use of the magnetic system in the corresponding manual (06327-00).
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Fig. 3: Magnetic flux density B in the centre of the gap without Cd-
lamp as a function of the pole shoe distance (without pole shoe
tips).
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Theory and evaluation
Theory
Theory
As early as 1862, Faraday investigated whether the spectrum of coloured flames changes under the influence of a magnetic
field, but without success. It was not until 1885 that Fievez from Belgium was able to demonstrate an effect, but it was forgotten
and only rediscovered 11 years later by the Dutch physicist Pieter Zeeman, and correctly explained by his compatriot Hendrik
Antoon Lorentz. For this achievement, both of them received the Nobel Prize in 1902.
Here the effect is demonstrated with the light of a Cadmium lamp and the help of a Fabry-Perot interferometer for resolving a
small part of the spectrum preselected by a color filter or an interference filter so only the light of a single atomic transition line
is observed. Without field the magnetic sub-levels have the same energy but with field the degeneration of the levels with
different is cancelled and the line is split. Cadmium has the electron structure , i.e. the outer shell taking part
in optical transitions is composed by the two 5s^2 electrons that represent a completed electron shell. (
) This is similar to the outer electron structure of Helium but also of Mercury. A
scheme of the energy levels of Cd is shown in Fig.4. In a completed shell in it's ground state the electron spins always
compensate each other – they are anti-parallel. If the total electron spin is zero, also the magnetic moment connected to
electron spin is zero. Atomic states with zero total spin are called singulett states. So in transitions between different singulett
states the magnetic moment of spin does not play a role, as is the case with the normal Zeeman effect. Electric dipole radiation
as in common optical transitions does not change the electron spin except in heavy atoms with -coupling, so transitions are
normally between different states in the same multiplicity system. But Fig. 4 shows there is some -coupling in Cadmium.
Fig. 4: The atomic state of Cadmium, wavelength in Å = 0.1 nm.
The transition used to demonstrate the normal Zeeman effect is with and the transition used to
demonstrate the anomalous Zeeman effect is with .
In a term like the first number "2" denotes the main quantum number of the radiating electron with respect to the atom's
ground state (that is counted as "1"), here this is really the 6th -shell since is the ground state. (This is why the –
states are below the – states, denotes the 5th -shell since Krypton has .) The upper "3" denotes the multiplicity,
that is with here the spin quantum number. The lower "1" denotes the quantum number of the total angular
momentum, i.e.
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the total angular momentum, i.e. with l the quantum number of the angular momentum of the
orbit. '' '', '' '', '' '', '' '' denote the actual value of , i.e. '' '' means , " " means .
is a transition within the singulett system so the spin magnetic moments have no effect. But in the transition
triplett states are involved and the spin magnetic moment does not vanish in all sub-states.
The selection rule for optical transitions is and the radiation belonging to transitions with are called
-lines and the ones with are called -lines. With the magnetic field turned on in the absence of the analyser three
lines can be seen simultaneously in the normal Zeeman effect in transversal observation. In the case of the anomalous Zeeman
effect three groups of three lines appear. Inserting the analyser in the normal Zeeman effect two -lines can be observed if the
analyser is in the vertical position, while only the -line appears if the analyser is turned into its horizontal position (transversal
Zeeman effect). In the anomalous Zeeman effect there are two groups of three -lines in vertical polarization and one group of
three -lines in horizontal polarization. Turning the magnetic system by the light coming from the spectral lamp parallel to
the direction of the field (longitudinal) can also be studied trough the holes in the polepieces. It can be shown that this light is
circular polarized light (longitudinal Zeeman effect). Fig. 5 summarizes the facts. A -plate is generally used to convert linear
into elliptical polarized light. In this experiment the -plate is used in the opposite way. With the -plate inserted before
the analyser, the light of the longitudinal Zeeman effect is investigated. If the optical axis of the -plate coincides with the
vertical, it is observed that some rings disappear if the analyser is at an angle of with the vertical while other rings
disappear for a position of . That means that the light of the longitudinal Zeeman effect is polarized in a circular (opposed
way). The -lines are longitudinally not observable.
Fig. 5: Longitudinal and transversal Zeeman
effect.
I n the normal Zeeman effect with the transition with 643.847 nm the electron spins cancel each other in both
the initial and final state and the energy of an atomic state in a magnetic field depends only on the magnetic moments of the
electron orbit.
The magnetic moment of the orbital angular momentum is
with Bohr's magneton
and the gyromagnetic factor of orbital angular momentum .
In the vector model of the atom the energy shifts can be calculated. It is assumed, that angular moments and magnetic
moments can be handled as vectors. Angular moment and the magnetic moment connected with it are antiparallel because of
the negative electron charge. The amount of the orbital magnetic moment of the orbital angular momentum, with quantum
number such that
, is:
In case of LS-coupling (Russel-Saunders coupling, spin-orbit coupling) for many electron systems is the amount of the total
angular momentum
with
the sum of the spins of the single electrons and
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the sum of the orbit angular moments of the single electrons.
Here it is
So
The amount of the component of the corresponding magnetic moment in direction of is:
with .
Observable is only the projection of the magnetic moment on
with it's quantization with respect to z-axis
with the magnetic quantization number with
The interaction energy with the outer magnetic field along the z-axis is then
Here the used transition for the normal Zeeman effect is .
So in the initial state is , and . may have the values . The gyromagnetic factor is
and the energy difference between two neighbouring substates of the initial state is then .
In the final state is , and . may have the values . The gyromagnetic factor is and
the energy difference between two neighbouring sub-states of the final state is then , too, i.e. for transition
with the same between initial and final state the energy shift is for initial and final state the same – so they have
altogether the same frequency.
Fig. 6 shows the resulting transition diagram.
For electrical dipole transitions the selection rule states .
The energy shift of a transition between initial state with and and final state with and is then
and here the ( )-values are simply equal to . So in case of LS-coupling in the normal Zeeman effect three
equidisant lines are expected in this transition with a distance in frequency or wave number proportional to the magnetic field
strength. The polarization of the transitions with in transversal observation is parallel to the magnetic field (here
horizontal) and of the other transitions the polarization is perpendicular to that.
Fig. 6: Energy shift of the atomic
states.
The anomalous Zeeman effect is the more general case where the electron spins do not cancel each other and the energy of
an atomic state in a magnetic field depends on both the magnetic moments of electron orbit and electron spin.
The magnetic moment of the orbital angular momentum is as above (see ( * )) and the magnetic moment of the spin is
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with the gyromagnetic factor of orbital angular momentum .
Additional to the orbital magnetic moment of the orbital angular momentum the amount of the spin magnetic moment of the
spin , with quantum number such that
has to be taken into account:
In case of LS-coupling (Russel-Saunders coupling, spin-orbit coupling) for many electron systems the amount of the total angular
momentum is
with
the sum of the spins of the single electrons and
the sum of the orbit angular moments of the single electrons. In the vector model it is assumed, that angular moments and both
spin and orbital magnetic moments can be handled as vectors. So the cosine rule applies for the sum of two vectors with an
angle between them. The amount of the component of the corresponding magnetic moment in direction of is with the
approximation :
with
Observable is only the projection of the magnetic moment on
with it's quantization with respect to z-axis
with the magnetic quantization number with
The interaction energy with the outer magnetic field along the z-axis is then
Here for the anomalous Zeeman effect the used transition is .
So in the initial state is , and . may have values . The
gyromagnetic factor is
and the energy difference between neighbouring sub-states of the initial state is then
In the final state is , and . may have the values . The gyromagnetic factor is
and the energy difference between neighboured sub-states of the final state is then
Fig. 7 shows the resulting transition diagram.
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Fig. 7: Energy shift of the atomic states.
For electrical dipole transitions the selection rule states .
The energy shift of a transition between initial state with and and final state with and is then
The following table shows the energy shifts of the transitions:
Fig. 8: Reflected and transmitted rays at the
parallel surfaces (1) and (2) of the étalon. The
étalon spacing is t = 3 mm.
So in case of LS-coupling in the anomalous Zeeman effect nine equidistant lines are expected in this transition instead of three
without spin magnetism. The polarization of the transitions with in transversal observation is parallel to the magnetic
field (here horizontal) and the polarization of the other transitions is perpendicular to the magnetic field.
At observing the -lines of the transversal Zeeman effect it is easy to see that the amount of splitting increases with increasing
magnetic field strength. For a quantitative measurement of this splitting in terms of number of wavelengths, a Fabry-Perot
interferometer is used, the functioning of which has to be explained:
The Fabry-Perot étalon has a resolution of approximately 400000. That means that a wavelength change of less then 0.002 nm
can still be detected.The étalon consists of a quartz glass plate of 3 mm thickness coated on both sides with a partially reflecting
layer (90 % reflection, 10 % transmission). Let us consider the two partially transmitting surfaces (1) and (2) in Fig. 8 seperated
by a distance . An incoming ray forming an angle with the plate normal will be split into the rays AB, CD, EF, etc. the path
difference between the wave fronts of two adjacent rays (e.g. AB and CD) is
where BK is defined normal to CD and is the refractive index of quartz at 509 nm, . At 644 nm is . With
and
we obtain
and for a constructive interference it is:
(1)
where is an integer and the light's wavelength. Equation (1) is the basic interferometer equation. Let the parallel rays B, D, F,
etc. be brought to a focus by the use of a lens of focal length as shown in Fig. 9.
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Fig. 9: Focusing of the light emerging from a
Fabry-Perot étalon. Light entering the étalon at
an angle θ is focused onto a ring of radius r = fθ
where f is the focal length of the lens.
For fulfilling equation (1) bright rings will appear in the focal plane with the radius
(2)
for small values , e.g. rays nearly parallel to the optical axis. Since
with
we finally obtain
or
(3)
If corresponds to a bright fringe, is an integer. However is the interference condition for the center (for )
generally not an integer.
If is the interference order of the first ring, it is since . We then let
where is the closest integer to (smaller than ). In general is for the pth ring of the pattern, measured starting from the
center, the following is valid:
(4)
Combining equation (4) with equations (2) and (3), we obtain for the radii of the rings, writing for ,
(5)
We note that the difference between the squares of the radii of adjacent rings is a constant:
(6)
can be determined graphically plotting versus and extrapolating to .
Now, if there are two components of a spectral line (splitting of one central line into two components) with wavelengths and
, which are very close to one another, they will have fractional orders at the center and :
where and are the corresponding wave numbers and , is the interference order of the first ring. Hence, if the
rings do not overlap by a whole order so and the difference in wave numbers between the two components is
(7)
Using equations (5) and (6), we get
(8)
Applying equation (8) to the components a and b, yields
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and
By substituting these fractional orders into equation (7), we get for the difference of the wave numbers:
(9)
From equation (6) we get the difference between the squares of the radii of component a :
this is equal to (within a very small part) the same difference for component b
Hence we assume
for all values of p . Similarly, all values
must be equal, regardless of (the order of interference) and their average may be taken as may be done for the different -
values. With (the difference of squares of radii of different lines of the same order of interference) and (difference of squares
of radii of different orders) as average values we get for the difference of the wave numbers of the components a and b :
(10)
Note: Equation (10) shows that Δk does not depend on the dimensions used in measuring the radii of the ring system.
Fig. 10: Normal Zeeman effect: Interference pattern without polarisation filter for
different magnetic field strengths. On the leftthere is one ring per order of
interference, on the right there are three rings per order of interference.
Anomalous Zeeman effect: For all these pictures the coil current was set such that the different orders of interference were just
still separated. In Fig. 11 all the rings are visible but hard to count. In Fig. 12 the middle three rings are visible with . In
Fig. 13 the outer and inner three rings with are visible, that's six rings making a total of nine rings. The rings seem
to be equidistant but not of the same intensity.
Fig. 11: Anomalous Zeeman effect: Interference pattern without polarisation filter
and magnified cut-out of the first completely visible two orders of interference.
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Fig. 12: Anomalous Zeeman effect: Interference pattern with horizontal polarisation
filter and magnified cut-out of the first complete two orders.
Fig. 13: Anomalous Zeeman effect: Interference pattern with vertical polarisation
filter and magnified cut-out of the first complete two orders.
Evaluation
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