Abstract

In conventional methods of absorption spectroscopy optically thin ensembles of atoms or molecules are probed with low-intensity lasers to avoid power broadening, "When transitions between long-lived states are considered, the necessity of low-intensity lasers results in a high noise level, which limits the sensitivity of the measurement. Similarly, increasing the atomic density beyond the low absorption regime broadens the absorption and decreases the signal-to-noise ratio.

© 1997 Optical Society of America