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Optical ramsey fringes in two-photon spectroscopy

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Abstract

Using two coherent time delayed short pulses, we have demonstrated that one can obtain, in the profile of Doppler-free two-photon resonances, interference fringes with a splitting 1/2T (T: delay time between the two pulses) much smaller than the spectral width 1/τ of each pulse (τ: duration of each pulse). Furthermore, by inducing a 90° phase shift between pairs of coherent time-delayed laser pulses, and subtracting the resulting fluorescence from pairs of coherent pulses with and without the phase shift, we have eliminated the diffraction background and isolated the Ramsey's interference fringes in the profile of Doppler-free two-photon resonances. This technique should lead to a number of important improvements in the presently available methods of ultra-high resolution laser spectroscopy of atoms, molecules, and crystals.

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Supported in part by the Joint Services Electronics Program.

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Salour, M.M. Optical ramsey fringes in two-photon spectroscopy. Appl. Phys. 15, 119–131 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00928196

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