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Physical Review Letters

Observation of Subnatural Linewidth in Na D2 Lines

Fujio Shimizu, Kazuko Umezu, Hiroshi Takuma

Published Sep 21, 1981• 35 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Subnatural linewidth in the optical transitions of Na ${D}_{2}$ lines was directly observed with use of phase switching of the optical field and gating of the photon counter. A linewidth as narrow as 4.5 MHz compared with the natural width of 10 MHz was obtained.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.47.825

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Comment on "Observation of Subnatural Linewidth in Na D2 Lines"

P. R. Berman

Received 30 November 1981DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.48.366©1982 American Physical Society

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Subnatural linewidth in the optical transitions of Na D2{D}_{2}D2​ lines was directly observed with use of phase switching of the optical field and gating of the photon counter. A linewidth as narrow as 4.5 MHz compared with the natural width of 10 MHz was obtained.
A method to obtain subnatural resolution in laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy by phase switching is described. The subnatural linewidth is obtained by extracting a coherent transient response induced by the switching of the laser. The linewidth in this type of spectroscopy is determined by the time interval between the switching and observation, instead of the spontaneous lifetime. The result is compared with the experiment on the Na D1{D}_{1}D1​ line.
Optical resonances with subnatural linewidth as narrow as 2.6 MHz have been observed with excellent signal-to-noise ratio in the Na D1{D}_{1}D1​ line (natural width 10 MHz) in a polarization spectroscopy experiment. The new, subnatural resonances arise from Zeeman coherences which are produced by a strong probe beam and destroyed by a velocity-selective optical Hanle effect.
Recently, Narducci et al.1 studied V-configuration three-level atoms and predicted that quantum fluctuations associated with a "strong" optical transition driven by a coherent field can be stabilized through excitation of a coupled "weak" transition. This stabilization is manifest in a narrowing, to subnatural values, of the fluorescence linewidths associated with the strong transition as the weak transition is driven more and more strongly. We have experimentally investigated this problem and provide the first demonstration of the effect. In the experiment, a beam of Ba atoms was intercepted by two copropagating cw laser beams. One of the beams, of Rabi frequency Ω1, was tuned into resonance with the strong, 553.5 nm, 1S0→3P1 transition, while the other beam, of Rabi frequency Ω2, was tuned into resonance with the weak, 791.1 nm, 1S0→3P1 transition. The fluorescence spectrum of the strong transition was recorded for the case when Ω1≈35 MHz and Q2≈45 MHz and, it was found that the spectrum was three-peaked. Most interestingly, the measured linewidth (FWHM) for the central peak was 16 MHz, or 2 MHz less than the 18 MHz natural width of the strong transition even before the substantial instrumental broadening (≈8 MHz) of the peak was deconvolved.
We investigate, theoretically and experimentally, absorption on an excited-state atomic transition in a thermal vapor where the lower state is coherently pumped. We find that the transition linewidth can be subnatural, that is, less than the combined linewidth of the lower and upper state. For the specific case of the $6{P}_{3/2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}7{S}_{1/2}$ transition in room temperature cesium vapor, we measure a minimum linewidth of 6.6 MHz compared with the natural width of 8.5 MHz. Using perturbation techniques, an expression for the complex susceptibility is obtained which provides excellent agreement with the measured spectra.
The technique of optical pumping dips has been employed to generate subnatural structure in a 87Rb^{87}\mathrm{Rb}87Rb D1{D}_{1}D1​ line (natural width 5.6 MHz). Structure as narrow as 1.4 MHz was observed. These experiments represent the first observation of subnatural spectral structure generated without requiring atomic coherence. Additionally, line shapes observed in these studies may be analyzed to yield transition dipole moments without requiring internal standards or an absolute calibration of fluorescence collection efficiency in the experimental apparatus.