Optics Letters
Subkilohertz linewidths measured by heterodyne-detected coherent population trapping in sodium vapor
Koji Motomura, 隆典 越水, Ken-ichi Harada, Hirotaka Ueno, Masaharu Mitsunaga
Abstract
Subkilohertz spectroscopy by coherent population trapping (CPT) has been performed in Na atomic vapor. The system employs a frequency-swept acousto-optic modulator for bichromatic excitation as well as a heterodyne-lock-in detection technique that permits the direct measurement of the CPT dispersion curves at a good signal-to-noise ratio. A CPT linewidth of -400 Hz was measured as well as a steep refractive-index dispersion of as much as 3.3 x 10(-10) Hz(-1), corresponding to a group velocity of 1800 m/s.