Physical Review A
Influence of laser beam profile on electromagnetically induced absorption
Senka Ćuk, Milan Radonjić, Aleksandar J. Krmpot, Stanko N. Nikolić, Z. D. Grujić, B. M. Jelenković
Abstract
We compared, experimentally and theoretically, Hanle electromagnetically induced absorption (EIA) obtained using Gaussian and $\ensuremath{\Pi}$-shaped laser beams 3 mm in diameter. The study was done by measuring the transmission of a laser locked to the ${F}_{g}=2\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{F}_{e}=3$ transition at the ${D}_{2}$ line of $^{87}\mathrm{Rb}$ in a vacuum cell. EIA linewidths obtained for the two laser profiles were significantly different in the range of laser intensities $1$--$4$ mW/cm${}^{2}$. EIA with the $\ensuremath{\Pi}$-shaped laser beam has a broad intensity maximum and linewidths larger than those obtained with the Gaussian beam profile. We also studied Hanle EIA by measuring the transmission of selected segments of the entire laser beam by placing a small movable aperture in front of the detector. Waveforms so obtained in Hanle EIA resonances were strongly influenced both by the radial distance of the transmitted segment from the beam center and by the radial profile of the laser beam. We show that outer regions of Gaussian beam, and central regions of the $\ensuremath{\Pi}$-shaped beam generate the narrowest lines. The different behaviors of EIA owing to different beam profiles revealed by both theory and experiment indicate the importance of the radial profile of the laser beam for proper modeling of coherent effects in alkali metal vapors.