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Journal of the Optical Society of America

Lasers, light, and matter

ARTHUR L. SCHAWLOW

Published Feb 1, 1977• 4 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The nature of light can be known and understood only through its interactions with matter. A few of the new ways that lasers can extend our knowledge of these interactions are discussed. They include methods for eliminating Doppler broadening from thermal motions in gases, such as saturated absorption and polarization spectroscopy. A convenient digital wavemeter for measuring wavelengths of tunable lasers is described. Complicated absorption spectra can be simplified by using a laser to modify the population or polarization of the chosen lower level.

DOI
10.1364/josa.67.000140

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The nature of light can be known and understood only through its interactions with matter. A few of the new ways that lasers can extend our knowledge of these interactions are discussed. They include methods for eliminating Doppler broadening from thermal motions in gases, such as saturated absorption and polarization spectroscopy. A convenient digital wavemeter for measuring wavelengths of tunable lasers is described. Complicated absorption spectra can be simplified by using a laser to modify the population or polarization of the chosen lower level.
This chapter begins with a heuristic derivation of atomic population rate equations which include changes to level populations due to stimulated transitions as well as level relaxations and pump. These equations are used to study the saturation of population inversion with increasing light intensity and its dependence on the type of gain medium (three-level gain media vs. four-level gain media), lineshape and nature of line broadening (homogeneous vs inhomogeneous broadening). How saturation affects lineshape and thus gain and absorption giving rise to phenomena like power broadening and spectral hole burning is also discussed. The chapter summarizes the equations of motion for atomic polarization, inversion and the cavity field describing their nonlinear dynamical coupling. These equations, known as the Maxwell-Bloch equations, provide a complete description of atom-field interaction in a laser. Approximations of these equations, including the rate equation approximation, to deal with different laser classes are briefly described. These will be used in the next few chapters to explore and understand the rich and varied behavior of lasers. The chapter ends with a summary of select gain media for different types of commonly used lasers.
In this paper, we describe two complementary nonlinear spectroscopy methods which both allow one to achieve Doppler-free spectra of atomic gases. First, saturated absorption spectroscopy is used to investigate the structure of the 5S 1/2 → 5P 3/2 transition in rubidium. Using a slightly modified experimental setup, Doppler-free two-photon absorption spectroscopy is then performed on the 5S 1/2 → 5D 5/2 transition in rubidium, leading to accurate measurements of the hyperfine structure of the 5D 5/2 energy level. In addition, electric dipole selection rules of the two-photon transition are investigated, first by modifying the polarization of the excitation laser, and then by measuring two-photon absorption spectra when a magnetic field is applied close to the rubidium vapour. All experiments are performed with the same grating-feedback laser diode, providing an opportunity to compare different high-resolution spectroscopy methods using a single experimental setup. Such experiments may acquaint students with quantum mechanics selection rules, atomic spectra and Zeeman effect.
Starting from the concepts of classical optics, Optics, Light and Lasers introduces in detail the phenomena of linear and nonlinear light matter interaction, the properties of modern laser sources, and the concepts of quantum optics. Several examples taken from the scope of modern research are provided to emphasize the relevance of optics in current developments within science and technology. The text has been written for newcomers to the topic and benefits from the author's ability to explain difficult sequences and effects in a straightforward and easily comprehensible way. To this second, c
The excited state population distribution created by 6S1/2 --> 6P3/2 laser excitation in room temperature cesium vapor mixed with Ar was quantitatively analyzed applying absorption and saturation spectroscopy. A simple method for the determination of the excited state population in a single excitation step based on the measurements of the saturated and unsaturated absorption coefficients was tested. When the line profile is nearly pure Doppler and the laser linewidth is much smaller than the inhomogeneous linewidth but comparable with homogeneous linewidth, the fraction N(v(z)) of the atoms in the ground state that are able to absorb under inhomogeneous broadening conditions can be determined. The transmission of the medium in the center of the Doppler envelope of the strong h. f. component of the CsD2 line due to hyperfine pumping alone amounts to approximately 5%. The assumption that has been made is that the lower-state hyperfine levels are populated in a statistical ratio. The absorption coefficients were measured for a series of P852 powers between 20 microW and 2. 5 mW. The velocity selective population density in the 6P3/2 state was obtained. The population in the 6P3/2 level obtained from the saturation measurements was also determined by the absorption measurement of narrow spectral line from a Cs hollow cathode lamp. The agreement between the results obtained in these two ways is very good. It was shown that 5% of the ground state population could be transferred to the first excited state by pumping the Doppler broadened line with a single-mode narrow-band laser. The argon caused line broadening and therefore increased the effective pumping rate in the first excitation step. The dependence of the 852 nm line fluorescence intensity was plotted against the population in the 6P3/2 level determined from the saturation absorption. This can serve as confirmation of the reliability of the method used for the determination of the excited state population.
Since the beginning of scientific inquiry the nature of light has played a vital role in our understanding of the physical world. Physicists have marveled at the dual nature of light as both corpuscle and wave; we have harnessed the remarkable coherent properties of light through the use of lasers; and the quantum mechanics of the interaction of photons with matter continue to provide fascinating avenues of basic research. In essence, any alteration of electromagnetism, the fundamental interaction overning atomic, molecular and condensed matter physics, will lead to fundamentally new phenomena in all these areas.