White-light cavities, atomic phase coherence, and gravitational wave detectors

We propose a new concept to realize optical cavities with large buildup but broadband response (white-light cavities) using atomic phase coherence. We demonstrate that strongly driven double-12 systems can show negative dispersion without absorption, which is needed in order to compensate for the variation of the wavelength with frequency. Internal buildup profiles and the cavity bandwidth of standard devices and whire-lighr cavities will be briefly compared. These devices may be useful to improve the bandwidth and sensitivity of future generations of laser interferometric gravitational wave detectors.

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