AC STARK SHIFT OF A 2-PHOTON TRANSITION INDUCED BY A MODEL STOCHASTIC FIELD

We have investigated the ac Stark shift of a two-photon transition induced by a model stochastic field by using a Monte Carlo technique. The model field has a stochastic single mode, which can possess both colored amplitude and colored frequency fluctuations. The stochastic field's modification of the ac Stark shift is quantified by a parameter M, which is the ratio of the Stark shift in the model stochastic field to the Stark shift that would be obtained in a phase-diffusion field of equivalent linewidth (i.e., a field with frequency fluctuations but no amplitude fluctuations). In the regime of weak fields, below saturation of the bound-bound transition,we find that M is greater than unity: the Stark shift is enhanced by the stochastic field. Moreover, in this regime M is an increasing function of the field's degree of photon bunching. In strong fields, where the bound-bound transition is nearly saturated, the enhancement of the Stark shift is diminished, so much so that in extremely strong fields M is actually less than unity. Our calculations indicate that the ac Stark shifts modification occurs through two distinct processes, depending on the strength of the field. In weak fields enhancement of a multiphoton transition's Stark shift is influenced primarily by the intrinsic correlation between ac-Stark-shift fluctuations and Rabi-frequency fluctuations. In strong fields the fluctuating Stark shifts give rise to an asymmetric resonance line shape in a fashion analogous to inhomogeneous broadening. The line shape's peak position then has a sublinear dependence on the stochastic field's intensity, and this yields a diminished value of M.