Optical Resonant Saturation of Dipole–Dipole Broadened Transitions in High-Density Atomic Vapor

Abstract

We discuss the experimental research of an optical resonant saturation of a dipole–dipole-broadened atomic transition in the high-density rubidium vapor. The dipole–dipole width of the selected transition 5S1/2 −5P3/2 is estimated as 2π・8.8 GHz; it is approximately ten times more than the contribution of the Doppler broadening. In the experiment, we record the selective reflection resonances at various laser beam intensities. The spectral width of the resonance is reduced when the optical intensity is increased. Reduction of the dipole-dipole width is the dominant process to compare with the variation of the Rabi broadening. This behavior confirms that the dipole–dipole interactions can be explained by a quasistatic model.