DOPPLER-FREE 2-COLOR SPECTROSCOPY OF THE 6(2)S(1/2)-8(2)S(1/2)CESIUM TRANSITION USING SEMICONDUCTOR DIODE-LASERS

We report an experimental investigation of the 6S-8S transition of cesium atoms by using Doppler-free two-color spectroscopy. We consider the case in which one of the laser frequencies is nearly resonant with the 6S(1/2)-6P(3/2) transition while a second one is swept around the 6P(3/2)-8S(1/2) transition. The lineshapes of two-photon absorption spectra are analyzed taking into account the effects of saturation and collisions. Both counterpropagating and copropagating laser-beam schemes are studied. Although for the linewidths are broader copropagating beams, such a scheme has proved advantageous to fully resolve the hyperfine structure of the final state 8S(1/2) and, hence, to measure the dipole magnetic constant A of this state.