Optical hole-burning and ground state energy transfer in ruby

Abstract

A recent application of homogeneous linewidth laser spectroscopy of optical solids is in energy transfer studies. This paper describes a high resolution hole-burning study of the R1 line in ruby giving information on the energy transfer mechanism which determines the saturated lineshape. As is well known, the zero phonon R1 lines in ruby at liquid helium temperatures are inhomogeneously broadened due to crystal defects. When the 4A2(\ub11/2;f)\u2192\u112 transition (R1(1/2) hereafter) is saturated by a narrowband laser, the result shown in Figure 1 occurs.The authors were affiliated with the National Research Council of Canada, Division of Electrical Engineering when they authored this article.Les auteurs \ue9taient affili\ue9 avec le Conseil national de recherches du Canada, Division de g\ue9nie \ue9lectrique lorsqu\u2019ils ont r\ue9dig\ue9 cet article.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye