The influence of coherence effects on measurements of saturable absorption with broadband radiation

For a gaussian broadband radiation field (multimode laser without phase-correlation) the bleaching behaviour of a homogeneously broadened two level system is investigated in dependence on the spectral width (δυ) of the field. Taking into consideration the coherent mode-interaction, originating from the nonstationary reaction of population inversion on the fluctuations of the radiation field, a decrease of the bleaching effect results as soon as the spectral width δυ becomes larger than ⊥₁ = 1/T₁ with T₁ the longitudinal relaxation time of the molecular transition concerned. Neglecting this effect in the analysis of broadband bleaching measurements can result in the unjustified assumption of an inhomogeneous broadening of the spectral band under consideration, which has consequences on the magnitude of the molecular absorption cross-section derived from these measurements.