MAGNETIC-RESONANCE LINE-SHAPES IN OPTICAL-PUMPING AND LIGHT-SHIFT EXPERIMENTS IN ALKALI ATOMIC VAPORS

Ca and Rb atomic vapors have been optically pumped in their ground sta tes. The optical/rf-field configuration used allowed for the optical d etection of magnetic resonance spectra with subkilohertz resolution by a pump - probe beam technique, in which the free-precessional motion of spins is recorded in the time domain. A six-level system serves as a model to describe the dependence of the observed spectra on the opti cal frequencies involved. With an intense laser beam applied during th e free-precession period, Zeeman light-shift effects are observed. The spatial electric-field distribution of the laser beams and particle d iffusion have to be taken into account to let us explain the observed magnetic resonance line shapes adequately.