Journal of the Optical Society of America B
Optical subharmonic Rabi resonances
Stephanos Papademetriou, Stephen H. Chakmakjian, Carlos R. Stroud
Abstract
We report the observation of the first six subharmonic resonances of the Rabi frequency in the absorption of a 100% amplitude-modulated laser beam by a two-level atom. The amplitude-modulated field is formed by combining two separate cw lasers; one is held fixed in frequency, and the other, of equal amplitude, is scanned in frequency. We present data and theory for several values of the detuning between the fixed field and the atomic resonance. The experimental results are in good agreement with theory.