Doppler Frequency Redistribution upon Coherent Photon Emission by Atoms in an Optically Dense Medium

Abstract

The problem of transfer of line radiation in sodium vapor under photoexcitation by laser radiation of a resonance line with wavelength λ = 589.6 nm is numerically solved. The influence of Doppler frequency shifts on photon emission coherent in the atomic reference system is taken into account in the formation of an emission line profile using the model of partial frequency redistribution. In the case of a small optical thickness of a medium τ0 ≤ 1, the Doppler frequency redistribution in the laboratory reference system yields higher intensity values in the emission line profile core in comparison with the model of complete frequency redistribution. For an optically dense medium, thermal motion of atoms leads to an increase of reabsorption in the emission line core, and intensity increases in the line wings as compared to the complete redistribution model. The dependence of the Holstein trapping factor on optical thickness is closer to the analytic dependence than the complete redistribution model. This is explained by the fact that the frequencies of emitted photons in the laboratory reference system fall into the spectral profile core, which increases the effects of resonance radiation trapping in a dense medium.