Saturation and alternate pathways in four-wave mixing in rubidium

Abstract: We have examined the frequency spectrum of the blue light generated via four-wave mixing in a rubidium vapor cell inside a ring cavity. At high atomic density and input laser power, two distinct frequency components separated by $116 \pm 4$ MHz are observed, indicating alternate four-wave mixing channels through the $6p_{3/2}$ hyperfine states. The dependence of the generated light on excitation intensity and atomic density are explored, and indicate the primary process has saturated. This saturation results when the excitation rate through the 6p state becomes equal to the rate through the 5p state, giving no further gain with atomic density while a quadratic intensity dependence remains.