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Physical Review A

High-resolution coherence spectroscopy using pulse trains

J. Mlynek, Wulfhard K. Lange, H. Harde, H. Burggraf

Published Aug 1, 1981• 59 citations
Publisher

Abstract

An infinite train of short light pulses is used for periodic creation of a coherent superposition of atomic substates. The coherence is sensitively detected by an optical probe beam using a polarization-selective technique. Narrow resonances are observed whenever the pulse repetition rate or its multiples coincide with an atomic Bohr frequency. Half-widths (full width at half maximum) of 20 kHz have been obtained for the Zeeman splitting of the sodium ground state.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.24.1099

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An infinite train of short light pulses is used for periodic creation of a coherent superposition of atomic substates. The coherence is sensitively detected by an optical probe beam using a polarization-selective technique. Narrow resonances are observed whenever the pulse repetition rate or its multiples coincide with an atomic Bohr frequency. Half-widths (full width at half maximum) of 20 kHz have been obtained for the Zeeman splitting of the sodium ground state.
A novel technique is described for high-resolution spectroscopy. The time evolution of a coherent superposition of atomic substates created by a short resonant laser pulse is monitored via changes in polarization of a delayed probe pulse due to stimulated emission. As a demonstration the method was applied to the Zeeman splitting of the 63P16^{3}P_{1}63P1​ state of ytterbium.
Abstract The paper surveys the techniques of Doppler-free spectroscopy based on the creation and detection of Hertzian coherence in atomic and molecular systems. The preparation of individual atoms in a coherent superposition of states with the use of broadband optical excitation is discussed, with particular reference to excitation by pulsed tunable dye lasers. Time-resolved observations of the fluorescent light emitted by these atoms reveal the interference phenomenon known as quantum beats and enable Landé g-factors, fine and hyperfine splittings of excited levels to be determined. An account of progress in recent experiments with probe-beam monitoring and pulse trains from mode-locked dye lasers completes this review.
The method of Synchronized Quantum Beat Spectroscopy has been improved by introducing the amplitude modulation on the excitation pulse train. By using an amplitude-modulated train of picosecond pulses from a cw mode-locked dye laser, we obtain resonance enhancement of the substate coherence (quantum beat) at f 0 = n f p + n ' f m ( n , n ' : integer, f 0 : sublevel splitting, f p : pulse repetition frequency, f m : modulation frequency), which can be detected by monitoring the optical anisotropy due to the substate coherence. Resonances can be obtained in the frequency domain by sweeping f m . Pressure shift coefficients of the hyperfine splitting in Na 3 2 S 1/2 are measured to be 82, 61, -1 and -47 Hz/Torr for He, N 2 , Ar and Kr, respectively, within an accuracy of ±3 Hz/Torr.
A technique is described for high-resolution spectroscopy using resonance absorption from a laser to monitor the time evolution of a coherently excited superposition of atomic states. As a demonstration a measurement was made of the 32P123^{2}P_{\frac{1}{2}}32P21​​ hyperfine splitting in sodium.