Experimental and numerical study of self-induced transparency in a neon absorber

Self-induced transparency on the neon transition 2s₂(J=1)–2p₄(J=2) is studied both experimentally by investigating the propagation of 3-nsec laser pulses at 1.15 µm in an absorber discharge and theoretically by a numerical integration of Bloch's equations and the wave equation.—The application of linearly and circularly polarized light corresponds to the interaction with a quasi-nondegenerate and degenerate transition, respectively. Pulse shapes, delays, and transmittancevs. input peak intensity are found in quantitative agreement with the calculated data. While with linear light polarization all SIT characteristics clearly appear, with circular polarization the pulse break-up and the oscillation of transmittance due to optical nutations are washed out.—The homogeneous linewidth derived from pulse delay data agrees with the value from conventional measurements. The results prove SIT useful as a quantitative spectroscopic method.Work supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft