Chirped pulse generation of a narrow absorption line in a TM3+:YAG crystal

We examine the coherent aspects of the swept CW laser spectral hole burning procedure, exploring their connection with rapid adiabatic passage (RAP). We take advantage of the well-known RAP robustness against control parameter variations. Considering uniform excitation of all the absorbing centers over a given spectral range, we propose a new scheme to exclude a single-frequency subset of centers from excitation. As the excited centers decay to a shelving state, one is left with nothing but the subset of unexcited centers that will behave like a narrow absorption line sample. Preliminary experimental results are presented. (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.