PHOTON-ECHO IN MOLECULAR GASES .1. SPATIAL, TEMPORAL, POLARIZATION, AND SPECTRAL PROPERTIES

In this review of a series of studies devoted to the photon echo in mo lecular gases, we provide a description of the experimental technique for the detection of coherent responses with the use of highly stable frequency-tunable continuous-wave CO2 lasers. Based on the results of investigations devoted to spatial, temporal, polarization, and spectra l properties of photon and stimulated photon echo and photon echo in s tanding waves, we analyze the possibilities of applying the methods of photon echo in spectroscopy, metrology, and optical data processing a nd storage, as well as in the study of interaction potentials of parti cles in a gas.