Abstract
Measurements of the relaxation times T1 and T2 of a two-level system by nonlinear transient spectroscopic methods are discussed, where delayed incident pulses are assumed to have correlation times much shorter than T1 or T2 but varied widths. In particular, a delayed degenerate four-wave mixing (photon echoe) and apump-and-probe type transmission measurement with incoherent long pulses are considered in detail, and a principle of their use for ultrafast spectroscopy is clarified. If the field is steady and T1>>T2, the time resolutionof T2measurement by the delayed four-wave mixlng is determined by the field correlation, therefore by the spectral width of the incident light irrespective of the pulse width. The time resoution of the T1 measurement by the pump-and-probe method is determined by the intensity correlation of the incident light, whereasthe one by the delayed four-wave mixing by a higher order correlation.
