CORRELATION SPECTROSCOPY WITH NOISE LIGHT EXCITATION

Intensity correlation spectroscopy with noise light excitation is stud ied experimentally and theoretically. Zeeman signals of the ground sta te of the D-1 transition in Rb atoms were observed. The signals appear in the power and cross spectra obtained from the auto- and cross-corr elations of the pump and probe intensities. The frequency resolution i s determined by the inverse of the measuring time and is not limited b y the spectral width of the light source. A high sensitivity was obtai ned in the experiment, and a high frequency resolution close to the th eoretical limit was achieved. The signal shapes in the Fourier spectra are analyzed by using linear response theory, and the observed signal shapes can well be explained. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.