Two-level saturation population model ($p_e=\frac{s}{2(1+s+4{\Delta }^2/{\Gamma }^2)}$)

Choose a closed two-level system, equal stimulated absorption and emission strengths, a monochromatic pump, and no extra dephasing. Let $p_g+p_e=1$ be the lower and upper populations, and let spontaneous emission remove upper population at rate $\Gamma =1/{\tau }_e$. In this convention the natural linewidth is full width at half maximum $\Gamma$ in angular frequency, its half width at half maximum is $\Gamma /2$, and its full width at half maximum in hertz is $\Gamma /(2\pi )$. All $\Delta$ below are angular detunings.

Let $s=I/I_{\mathrm{sat}}$ be the on-resonance saturation parameter. An effective stimulated transition rate that reproduces the monochromatic steady response isHere $R$ describes each stimulated direction, while $\Gamma$ describes irreversible spontaneous emission. The rate equation gives the steady populations; it is not a description of transient Rabi oscillations. Setting ${\dot{p}}_e=0$ givesand the population difference relevant to net weak-probe photon absorption isThe pump depletes the lower population by $p_e$, but reduces the population difference by $q=2p_e$: stimulated emission contributes as well as missing ground-state absorbers. On resonance, $s=1$ gives $p_e=1/4$, $p_g=3/4$, $d=1/2$; $s=9$ gives $p_e=0.45$, $p_g=0.55$, $d=0.10$. As $s\to \infty$, the two populations approach $1/2$, rather than producing a population inversion. Far off resonance, $p_e\to 0$ and $d\to 1$.

For moving atoms use $\Delta =\delta -kv$ in these pump-prepared populations. A weak counterpropagating probe interrogates them near $\delta +kv=0$. A simple population-only approximation to its absorption coefficient averages the weak-probe Lorentzian line shape times $d(\delta -kv)$ over the Maxwell-Boltzmann velocity distribution. It neglects interference between the beams, changes of velocity during illumination, and multilevel optical pumping. Those restrictions matter for real alkali chemical atoms.

In the two-level saturation population model, $p_e$ and the population-difference reduction $q$ reach half their resonant values at $|\Delta |=(\Gamma /2)\sqrt{1+s}$. Their half width at half maximum is therefore $(\Gamma /2)\sqrt{1+s}$ and their full width at half maximum is $W_{\omega }=\Gamma \sqrt{1+s}$ in angular frequency, or $W_{\nu }=W_{\omega }/(2\pi )$ in hertz. This is power broadening: stronger excitation addresses a wider range of detunings even though the lifetime has not changed.

Increasing $s$ improves the local population-difference reduction $q(0)=s/(1+s)$ but broadens the response. From $s=1$ to $s=9$, this reduction increases from $0.5$ to $0.9$, while the width increases from $\sqrt{2}\Gamma$ to $\sqrt{10}\Gamma$. The contrast approaches a limit and the width keeps growing. This single-atom width is not automatically the width of a velocity-averaged pump–probe feature.

For example, if the distribution of velocities is approximately constant across the narrow resonant classes, the population-only overlap integral contains two Lorentzian line shapes: a probe of half width $\gamma =\Gamma /2$ and a pump hole of half width $a=\gamma \sqrt{1+s}$. Their centres in $kv$ are separated by $2\delta$. The convolution of these profiles has half width $a+\gamma$ in that separation, so its full width at half maximum as a function of $\delta$ is $a+\gamma =(\Gamma /2)(1+\sqrt{1+s})$. Even this simplified pump–probe width differs from the single-atom power broadening formula. Finite Doppler broadening and coherent or multilevel effects require further analysis.