Physical Review A
Self-induced transparency on degenerate magnetic dipole transitions
Gan Xu, Terence A. King, J. J. Bannister
Abstract
Self-induced transparency has been observed on a $Q(2)$-degenerate transition for the first time. Coherent interaction occurs as a short pulse from the $^{2}P_{\frac{1}{2}}F=2\ensuremath{\rightarrow}^{2}P_{\frac{3}{2}}{F}^{\ensuremath{'}}=2$, magnetic dipole transition of the atomic-iodine laser passes through a self-resonant iodine vapor. High transparency and considerable pulse delay at input pulse areas $\ensuremath{\theta}>\ensuremath{\pi}$, and small-pulse splitting at $\ensuremath{\theta}\ensuremath{\simeq}\ensuremath{\pi}$ characterized the phenomena.