Dynamic Stark effect and forbidden-transition spectral line shapes

We report on an experimental and theoretical study of the dynamic (ac) Stark effect on a forbidden transition. A general framework for parametrizing and describing off-resonant ac-Stark shifts is presented. A model is developed to calculate spectral line shapes resulting from resonant excitation of atoms in an intense standing light wave in the presence of off-resonant ac-Stark shifts. The model is used in the analysis and interpretation of a measurement of the ac-Stark shifts of the static-electric-field-induced 6s^2 1S₀→5d6s³D₁ transition at 408 nm in atomic Yb. The results are in agreement with estimates of the ac-Stark shift of the transition under the assumption that the shift is dominated by that of the 6s^2 1S₀ ground state. A detailed description of the experiment and analysis is presented. A biproduct of this work is an independent determination (from the saturation behavior of the 408-nm transition) of the Stark transition polarizability, which is found to be in agreement with our earlier measurement. This work is part of the ongoing effort aimed at a precision measurement of atomic parity-violation effects in Yb.