Coherent repopulation of hyperfine structure levels in the field of a bichromatic resonant radio-frequency wave

We consider the resonant interaction between atoms with hyperfine energy levels and a bichromatic radio-frequency field. Nuclear Zeeman levels of an impurity center in a magnetic host form a structure of this kind. Using the spin-density-matrix formalism, we solve the problem of coherent repopulation of a system of three of these levels under the action of a bichromatic resonant radio-frequency wave, taking into account transverse relaxation, and note the connection between this effect and the well-known phenomenon of coherent population capture when a laser bichromatic field interacts resonantly with a three-level system. We discuss various possibilities for observation of this effect experimentally. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.