Sub-Doppler resonances caused by Rabi oscillations on atomic transitions in thin gas cells

Theoretical research is carried out of excitation of atoms from the ground quantum level to a metastable state by the running monochromatic radiation in thin gas cell, whose inner thickness is much less than its radius. As a result, sub-Doppler resonances has been discovered and analyzed, which appear in the population of the metastable atomic level at scan of the radiation frequency because of light induced Rabi oscillation on the given optical transition and also transit relaxation of atoms in the considered cell with the rarefied gas. Such nontrivial resonances may be detected in atomic fluorescence by additional probe light beam. The method for direct measurement of the Rabi frequency on spectral intervals between established sub-Doppler resonances is proposed. Obtained results may be applied in atomic spectroscopy for precise determination of components of matrix elements of dipole moments and related Einstein coefficients and oscillator strengths of quantum transitions between ground and metastable atomic levels.