Absorption spectroscopy and Stokes polarimetry in a $^{87}$Rb vapour in the Voigt geometry with a 1.5 T external magnetic field

Abstract: We present a detailed spectroscopic investigation of a thermal $<sup>{87}$Rb atomic vapour in a magnetic field of 1.5~T in the Voigt geometry. We fit experimental spectra for all Stokes parameters with our theoretical model \textit{ElecSus} and find very good quantitative agreement, with RMS errors of $\sim 1.5$\% in all cases. We extract the magnetic field strength and the angle between the polarisation of the light and the magnetic field from the atomic signal, and we measure the birefringence effects of the cell windows on the optical rotation signals. This allows us to carry out precise measurements at a high field strength and arbitrary geometries, allowing further development of possible areas of application for atomic magnetometers.