Power broadening of the spectral hole width in an optically thick sample Original Research Article

Under the assumption of negligible absorption, spectral holes are known to broaden in frequency proportional to the square root of the recording intensity. In this paper the standard expression for power broadening is compared with more general results for the case of non-zero absorption. Analytic results are derived for the upper and lower limits of the hole width, corresponding to the cases of low and high absorption, respectively. These results are compared with numerical solutions, and used to fit experimental data for an optically thick sample of chlorin in PVB, in a temperature range of 450 mK to 3 K. The temperature dependence and zero kelvin value of the dephasing time, T2, are evaluated.