Determination of the relaxation constants of a common level in resonance interaction of opposite waves with a three-level system

An analysis is made of the method for measuring the relaxation constants of a common level in resonance interaction of two opposite traveling waves with a three-level system, based on the modulation of the polarization of one of the waves. The results for the 3s₂ level of neon, obtained experimentally for the 3s₂–3p₂ and 3s₂–3p₄ transitions, were in agreement with the values obtained earlier by other methods.