O. Kh. Khasanov

Free polarization decay in media with a short-range dipole-dipole interatomic interaction

The effect that may be exerted by an interatomic dipole-dipole interaction upon optical transient processes in dense resonance media, in particular, free polarization decay, is analyzed. The behavior of the macroscopic polarization after a single-pulse excitation of a dense ensemble of two-level atoms is considered. It is shown that the free polarization signal is of oscillatory nature, with the oscillation frequency varying in time and being dependent on the dipole-dipole interaction constant, the intensity and duration of the exciting pulse, and the detuning of its carrier frequency from the resonance. The free polarization signal decay, which depends on the magnitude and sign of the sum of the detuning of the exciting pulse carrier frequency from the resonance and the Lorentz frequency, may obey either a power or an exponential law. The signal decay rate is determined not only by the inhomogeneous broadening, but also by the ratio of the above parameters.