We have observed kilohertz and sub-kilohertz resonance structures in RF-optical double resonance experiments of rare-earth-doped solids, when the frequency of the RF field is scanned across the hyperfine transitions while monitoring the resonant optical absorption of a CW laser. The effect is observed only when the laser spectral width is broad compared to the hyperfine structure. The observed line widths are apparently free of the inhomogeneous widths of hyperfine levels and the line shape has peculiar double peak structure. The effect is modelled with a resonance involving three atomic levels interacting with three electromagnetic fields, two optical and one RF, in a triangular or “delta’ configuration. While the ordinary optical-RF two-field resonance is limited by spin inhomogeneous width, the simultaneous excitation of three coupled transitions leads to narrow and highly nonlinear resonance structures that are not averaged by the inhomogeneous distribution of hyperfine transition.
We have observed kilohertz and sub-kilohertz resonance structures in RF-optical double resonance experiments of rare-earth-doped solids, when the frequency of the RF field is scanned across the hyperfine transitions while monitoring the resonant optical absorption of a CW laser. The effect is observed only when the laser spectral width is broad compared to the hyperfine structure. The observed line widths are apparently free of the inhomogeneous widths of hyperfine levels and the line shape has peculiar double peak structure. The effect is modelled with a resonance involving three atomic levels interacting with three electromagnetic fields, two optical and one RF, in a triangular or “delta’ configuration. While the ordinary optical-RF two-field resonance is limited by spin inhomogeneous width, the simultaneous excitation of three coupled transitions leads to narrow and highly nonlinear resonance structures that are not averaged by the inhomogeneous distribution of hyperfine transition.
We have observed kilohertz and sub-kilohertz resonance structures in RF-optical double resonance experiments of rare-earth-doped solids, when the frequency of the RF ® eld is scanned across the hyper® ne transitions while monitoring the resonant optical absorption of a CW laser. The ea ect is observed only when the laser spectral width is broad compared to the hyper® ne structure. The observed line widths are apparently free of the inhomogeneous widths of hyper® ne levels and the line shape has peculiar double peak structure. The ea ect is modelled with a resonance involving three atomic levels interacting with three electromagnetic ® elds, two optical and one RF, in a triangular ordelta' con® guration. While the ordinary optical- RF two-® eld resonance is limited by spin inhomogeneous width, the simul- taneous excitation of three coupled transitions leads to narrow and highly nonlinear resonance structures that are not averaged by the inhomogeneous distribution of hyper® ne transition. We have observed a peculiarly narrow resonance structure in the course of optical-RF double resonance experiment of rare earth ions in solids. The reso- nance is characterized by a sharp doublepeak structure in the absorption spectrum as the RF frequency is scanned across the hyper® ne transition, with the few kilohertz width of the transparency hole at least an order of magnitude narrower than the spin inhomogeneous width. The ea ect is evident only when the laser bandwidth is larger than the hyper® ne level splittings. A theoretical model is presented based on the assumption that the optical ® elds of a noisy laser simul- taneously couples an optically excited state with two hyper® ne levels of the ground state, which in turn are acted on by the RF ® eld. A quantum interference ea ect among the three coupled transitions creates sharp fringes in the frequency domain that are not averaged out by ensemble average over the inhomogeneousbroadening of the optical or spin transitions. The model is found to be consistent with the main features of the experimental observations. Various quantum interference ea ects in atomic transitions have recently been research topics of great interest, because of the rich and often counter-intuitive
Doubly-resonant two-photon-absorption-induced four-wave mixing has been observed for the first time in a rare earth insulator.The generation of the nonlinear signal exhibits strong intermediate and two-photon resonances in crystalline Tb (OH)3 and LiTbF4 This provides a novel method for high resolution measurements of intermediate 4f^n configurations and excited configurations of rare earth ions.The intermediate resonance showed spectral line narrowing up to ten times narrower than the corresponding inhomogeneously broadened absorption.In LiTbF4, laser-limited line widths were obtained and in Tb(OH)3, a homogeneous limit corresponding to T2 = 50 psec may have been reached.The qualitative behavior of the narrowing is explained by the dispersion of the anamalous index of refraction and its effect on phase matching.Direct measurement of the anamalous dispersion was made to test the model.Results indicate nonlinear contributions to the refractive index may have been present.The two-photon resonance in Tb(OH)3 was measured to be a 230 cm^-1 wide crystal field component of the broad 4f^n 5d excited configuration.Thus high resolution UV spectroscopy with tunable visible lasers is demonstrated.Applications are discussed including the extraction of homogeneous line widths from inhomogeneously broadened spectra, coherent transient measurements, and UV and VUV spectrosocpy.The latter uses different selection rules than linear absorption methods and allows study of transitions between excited states.DOUBLY-RESONANT TWO-PHOTON-AB^ORPTION-INDUCED EOUR-WAVB MIXPNQ IN, .T b .(DR) 3 . .
Solids containing rare earth (RE) ions have attracted spectroscopists' attention since the beginning of this century.In the last 30 years, their extremely narrow spectral features in combination with the use of non linear spectroscopy have served to sensitively measure ion-solid interactions and to progressively observe narrower homogeneous linewidths.The potential for using RE ion doped crystals as optical storage materials and processors has lately been a driving force in their investigations, Here, the ratio of inhomogeneous to homogeneous linewidth is regarded as an adequate measure of storage density and can become as big as 10 7 at cryogenic temperatures.Therefore, the analysis of line broadening is of fundamental as well as applied interest.This work is concerned with the investigation of interactions of RE ions with their environment.By means of a laser with a kilohertz resolution and non-linear spectroscopy, spectral dynamics as a function of intrinsic, external electric field, or light-pulse induced perturbations are analyzed on different time scales.In the first part, the theoretical background for the spectroscopy of RE ion doped crystals is outlined.The energy levels are presented and it is shown that due to their electronic properties RE ions have spectrally narrow electronic transitions, sometimes in the sub-kHz regime.The investigations of these narrow spectral features on the seconds to minutes time scale require very stable tunable laser sources.At present, such devices are not commercially available.In the second part, the performance of ahorne built laser system is characterized using persistent spectral holes, The results show that frequency selective materials can be used as powerful tools for the high resolution Vlll Abstract spectral analysis of laser sources.Complementary to that, they give a measure for the long term evolution of the spectral holes for the particular hole burning substance.In the third part, the effect of an external electric field on RE ion doped crystals is investigated.It is shown that for these systems the electric field induced frequency shifts are fully reversible.A general theory of Stark splittings of RE doped crystals is introduced and two methods are presented which allow for the determination of the magnitude and orientation of the electric dipole moment differences with sub-degree accuracy.Finally in the last part, spectral line broadening mechanisms of RE ion doped crystals are discussed and investigated by means of two-pulse photon echoes.Through variation of the experimental parameters, a discrimination between the different contributions is partly achieved and characteristic properties for different dephasing mechanisms are presented.In combination with the measurements from the third part, quantitative predictions of the electric dipole-dipole induced broadening are carried out, which are compared to the experimental results,
Using two CW dye lasers barium Rydberg states were populated by stepwise two-photon absorption via the 6s6p 1 P 1 intermediate level. Monitoring the transmission of the first laser beam, tuned to the resonance line, and scanning the second laser across the upper atomic transition, a greatly enhanced signal was observed. Taking optical pumping into account, a simple rate equation model can quantitatively describe the increase in sensitivity. This technique was applied to measure the hyperfine structure of the 6s15d 1 D 2 Rydberg state in barium.
An ``amplitude model'' of the laser-rf double-resonance process has been quantitatively verified, providing a complete explanation of the anomalous line shapes observed in studies of Na2 hyperfine structure. We find excellent agreement with new laser-rf double-resonance measurements in low-J'' rotational levels of the X1${\ensuremath{\Sigma}}_{g}^{+}$(v''=0) ground state of Na2 as well as with earlier data for J''=28. These results confirm the idea that absorption and stimulated-emission Rabi cycles in the presence of the laser field create coherence between the ground-state hyperfine levels when these levels are optically unresolved. A novel ground-state ``quantum beat'' experiment is proposed.
A novel coherent Raman effect induced by a laser and a radio-frequency (rf) field is used to detect cw and pulsed nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) in ground and excited electronic states. The effect is illustrated in the impurity-ion solid Pr3+: LaF3 at 1.6 K utilizing the Pr3+ optical transition $^{3}H_{4}({\ensuremath{\Gamma}}_{1})\ensuremath{\rightarrow}^{1}D_{2}({\ensuremath{\Gamma}}_{1})$. The laser field of frequency ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{E}$ and the rf field (${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{H}$) induce a light wave at the sum ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{E}+{\ensuremath{\omega}}_{H}$ (anti-Stokes) and difference ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{E}\ensuremath{-}{\ensuremath{\omega}}_{H}$ (Stokes) frequencies, generating an absorptive or dispersive heterodyne beat signal (${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{H}$) with the laser field at a photodetector. The theory of this effect is characterized in a new three-level perturbation calculation which requires, unlike the usual stimulated Raman effect, that all three transitions be electric- or magnetic-dipole allowed. Detailed predictions are confirmed by cw measurements of the Pr3+: LaF3 hyperfine splittings where the optical heterodyne signals are shot-noise limited. The Pr3+ nuclear quadrupole parameters are obtained for the 3H4 and 1D2 states where the line centers are determined with kilohertz precision. The corresponding wave functions show significant hyperfine-state mixing, as required for all three transitions to be dipole allowed. The cw line shapes are narrow (30-160 kHz), inhomogeneously broadened by nuclear magnetic interactions, and reveal either a Gaussian or an anomalous second-derivative---like line shape. The spin-echo measurements for the 3H4 and 1D2 hyperfine transitions yield homogeneous line shapes which are Lorentzian, and rather surprisingly, linewidths in the narrow range 10-20 kHz, a result which tests current line-broadening theories.