Journal of Physics B Atomic and Molecular Physics
The Autler-Townes effect in hydrogen at low pressure
A. M. F. Lau
Abstract
The author investigates the Autler-Townes effect (also known as AC, optical or dynamical Stark splitting) on the Balmer- alpha transition of hydrogen in 0.5-5 Torr of helium. In the double optical resonance scheme. H(3p) is excited by absorption of two 243 nm photons and a 656 nm photon via the 2s resonant intermediate level. Calculated results show that in a Doppler-free or a 'Doppler-reduced' beam configuration, the required intensity of the 656 nm laser (0.2 cm -1 bandwidth) for observation of the Autler-Townes doublet has to be greater than 2*10 4 and 2*10 5 W cm -2 for 243 nm laser bandwidths of 0.1 and 0.5 cm -1 , respectively.