Misha Stepanov | publications | J. Exp. Theor. Phys. (2004)

S. A. Babin, M. G. Stepanov, D. V. Churkin, D. A. Shapiro, Coulomb broadening of the peak of electromagnetically induced transparency in plasma, Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics 98 (5) 953–959 (2004).

DOI: 10.1134/1.1767562
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We have measured the shape of the Autler‑Townes doublet and the peak of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) under plasma conditions. We compare the experimental results with the calculated spectrum of the probe field of a three‑level ArII Λ‑scheme by taking into account Coulomb collisions. We show that the Coulomb broadening of the EIT peak is small (less than 40%), while the saturation resonance is broadened under the experimental conditions by a factor of 3. In contrast to the saturation resonance attributable to the Bennett dip in the velocity distribution of the population, the EIT peak is a coherent effect and is broadened mainly through Coulomb dephasing.