An investigation is reported of coherent resonance in the degenerate two-level system of the (Fg = 2 --> Fe = 1) transition of the 87Rb D1 line by means of a Hanle effect configuration. In a coherent population trapping experiment, a very narrow (approximately 1-kHz) resonance superimposed upon a broader resonance (approximately 100 kHz) was observed. The dependence of the width and the amplitude of the coherent resonance on the laser power density, on additional constant magnetic fields, on the laser frequency position along the fluorescence profile, and on Rb cells with different dimensions was investigated.

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A model for description of the shapes of the coherent population trapping (CPT) resonances at different geometries of excitation and observation is developed. The numerical calculations, based on the irreducible tensor operator formalism, take into account the experimental geometry, the velocity distribution of the atoms, the Gaussian distribution of the laser beam intensity and the high rank polarization moments (HRPM). The results for different laser beam diameters, aperture of the detection, position of the photodetector etc. are compared with the experimental data. A method for description of the experimental shapes is proposed.

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