Abstract

A technique for producing phase-related picosecond optical pulses is described. A sequence of two phase-related pulses, well separated in time, is applied to the D₁ line in Na vapor. When the phase between the two pulses is scanned, oscillations in the incoherent fluorescence are observed. This demonstrates the well-defined phase relationship between the pulses. Measuring the amplitude of the oscillations as a function of pulse separation yields the Na optical coherence decay. A beat arising from the ground-state hyperfine splitting is observed, and the results agree well with calculation.

© 1989 Optical Society of America

Spectrally ordered Zeeman coherences and optical pulse-shape storage

N. W. Carlson, W. R. Babbitt, Y. S. Bai, and T. W. Mossberg
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 2(6) 908-914 (1985)

Optical free-induction-decay quantum beats in multilevel systems

A. I. Alekseev and O. V. Zhemerdeev
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 4(1) 30-40 (1987)

Application of a two-color free-electron laser to condensed-matter molecular dynamics

Dana D. Dlott and Michael D. Fayer
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 6(5) 977-994 (1989)

Phase-matching memory effect in optical coherent transient effects

M. José Soto
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 6(11) 1999-2005 (1989)

Multilevel theory of time-delay four-wave mixing with incoherent light in absorption bands

Xin Mi, Haitian Zhou, Ruihua Zhang, and Peixian Ye
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 6(2) 184-190 (1989)