Stimulated Raman Adiabatic Passage (STIRAP) is a technique that is capable
of transferring an almost entire atomic or molecular population from one qu
antum level to another by a coherent two-step excitation process. The most
remarkable property of this technique is that it is applicable to situation
s in which the intermediate atomic or molecular state is exposed to a large
loss rate. However, the STIRAP process has not yet been used for laser spe
ctrochemical analysis. As a part of the ongoing development of new laser-ba
sed spectrometric techniques, this article demonstrates how a previously pu
blished simulation program, DensMat, can be used to model STIRAP processes
in atoms under various collisional and laser bandwidth conditions. (C) 2001
Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.