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arXiv · physics/0601079

Comparison of 87Rb N-resonances for D1 and D2 transitions

Abstract

We report an experimental comparison of three-photon-absorption resonances (known as "N-resonances") for the D_1 and D_2 optical transitions of thermal 87Rb vapor. We find that the D_2 N-resonance has better contrast, a broader linewidth, and a more symmetric lineshape than the D_1 N-resonance. Taken together, these factors imply superior performance for frequency standards operating on alkali D_2 N-resonances, in contrast to coherent population trapping (CPT) resonances for which the D_2 transition provides poorer frequency standard performance than the D_1 transition.

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Irina Novikova, David F. Phillips, Alexander S. Zibrov, Ronald L. Walsworth, Alexksei V. Taichenachev, Valeriy I. Yudin. 2006-01-11. Comparison of 87Rb N-resonances for D1 and D2 transitions. https://doi.org/10.1364/ol.31.002353

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