Polarization-rotation resonances with subnatural widths using a control laser

Abstract

We demonstrate extremely narrow resonances for polarization rotation in an atomic vapor. The resonances are created using a strong control laser on the same transition, which polarizes the atoms due to optical pumping among the magnetic sublevels. As the power in the control laser is increased, successively higher-order nested polarization rotation resonances are created, with progressively narrower linewidths. We study these resonances in the $D_2$ line of Rb in a room-temperature vapor cell, and demonstrate a width of $0.14 \, \Gamma$ for the third-order rotation. The explanation based on a simplified $\Lambda$V-type level structure is borne out by a density-matrix analysis of the system. The dispersive lineshape and subnatural width of the resonance lends itself naturally to applications such as laser locking to atomic transitions and precision measurements.