Dicke Narrowing in Strong Fields: The Atom-as-Antenna Analogy
Abstract
When a radiator (or absorber) suffers velocity-changing collisions that do not perturb its internal state, the oscillator's successive Doppler shifts are motionally averaged. This process (Dicke narrowing) gives rise to a homogeneously broadened sub-Doppler resonance, which is often astride a broad, apparently Doppler width, pedestal. It has long been held that this pedestal is an inhomogeneous remnant of Doppler broadening, but no evidence has ever been obtained to substantiate this expectation. In the present study we investigate the behavior of Dicke-narrowed lineshapes in strong fields in an evacuated wall- coated cell. Our experimental results indicate that the hypothesis of an inhomogeneous Doppler remnant pedestal is invalid. Rather, the pedestal is homogeneously broadened, and is best understood in terms of the oscillator's response to the electromagnetic field's power spectral density as observed in its rest frame. This conclusion suggests an intimate relationship between the process of Dicke narrowing and the behavior of quantum systems in the presence of stochastic fields. By envisioning the quantum system as a narrow-band antenna that only absorbs a small portion of the field's energy, we develop a simple intuitive model to account for the interaction of the atom with the nonmonochromatic field; the appeal of this simple theory is that it removes the need for extensive computation. Agreement between this atom-as-antenna analogy and experiment is very good.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 13, 1992
- Accession Number
- ADA252321
Entities
People
- H. G. Robinson
- James C. Camparo
- Robert P. Frueholz
Organizations
- The Aerospace Corporation