Lamb-dips and Lamb-peaks in the saturation spectrum of HD

Abstract

The saturation spectrum of the R(1) transition in the (2-0) band in HD is found to exhibit a composite line shape, involving a Lamb-dip and a Lamb-peak. We propose an explanation for such behavior based on the effects of cross-over resonances in the hyperfine substructure, which is made quantitative in a density-matrix calculation. This resolves an outstanding discrepancy on the rovibrational R(1) transition frequency, which is now determined at 217 105 181 901 (50) kHz and in agreement with current theoretical calculations.