We have completed a comprehensive study of the effects of phase /frequency fluctuations in the incident laser field on the fluorescence intensity from the 3S(sub 1/2) (F = 2, M(sub F) = 2) to 3P(sub 3/2) (F = 3, M(sub F) = 3) transition to atomic sodium. The experiments were carried out in an atomic beam apparatus with a laser driving field on which well-characterized synthesized phase-fluctuations were imposed. The mean fluorescence intensity and the fluctuations in the intensity were measured as a function of detuning of the driving field from the resonance frequency of the transition, and for several different laser powers and bandwidths of laser noise. Power spectra of the intensity fluctuations were measured for a wide range of parameters and the effects of correlated amplitude and phase fluctuations were probed. Detailed comparisons between theoretical predictions and experimental measurements were carried out, and a theoretical model was developed to include the effects of residual Doppler broadening and the nonuniform spatial intensity profile of the driving laser. Experimental investigations of effects of laser phase-noise on degenerate four- wave-mixing have been started.
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