Abstract

This paper reports excellent agreement between theory and Goldsmith's unexpected observation of two-peaked resonance structures in the multiphoton excitation spectra of hydrogen atoms in a hydrogen-air diffusion flame.¹ We show that the phenomenon is ac Stark (or Autler-Townes) splitting with abnormal peak asymmetry. This is the first study demonstrating that the peak asymmetry in an ac Stark doublet is reversed due to pressure broadening.

© 1986 Optical Society of America