The effect of imprisonment of radiation in sodium vapor on the measured lifetime of the
32P states has been investigated in an experiment in which the atoms in the vapor were excited with 10-nsec pulses of resonance radiation and the elapsed times between the exciting and the fluorescent pulses were recorded using a time-to-amplitude converter and kicksorter. At vapor densities below
1010 atoms/
cm3, where there is no multiple scattering, the measured lifetime reaches a constant value of (1.63\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.04)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}8}$ sec, equal to the natural lifetime of the
32P states. In the density range
109-
1013 atoms/
cm3, the variation of the effective lifetime with the vapor density is in good agreement with the predictions of Milne's theory of radiation trapping; agreement with Holstein's theory is observed only in the range
1012-
1013 atoms/
cm3. The results of a subsidiary Hanle experiment show that a multiply scattered photon of sodium resonance fluorescence loses its original polarization and that, at high sodium vapor pressure, coherence is not preserved.
Abstract The process of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) was investigated using two different probe radiations in Cs atomic vapor: in the first case probe radiation– transmission through a nanocell (NC) with the formation of EITT; in the second–selective reflection (SR) of laser radiation from the boundary of the atom-dielectric vapor (dielectric is nanocell window) with the formation of EITSR. To form EIT resonances, we used two continuous narrow-band lasers with λ = 852 nm and a nanocell with an atomic vapor column thickness in the range of 150–1500 nm. A comparison of the formation of EIT resonance in the first and second cases was carried out. Probe radiation containing EITT and EITSR-resonances propagates in opposite directions. It is noted that in a few cases, the formation of EIT resonance is more effective using SR radiation. The splitting of the EITSR-resonance in the longitudinal magnetic field into seven equidistant components was recorded, which allows remote monitoring of the magnetic field.