Spectrum Broadening Due to Nonselective Linear Absorption

The position and linewidth of an emission spectrum reflect the physical properties of the luminophor. So, keeping the spectrum from distortion is very important in its measurement. However, we find that the spectrum linewidth will be broadened when the near-infrared radiation from a sodium lamp passes through a nonselective linear absorbing filter. This counterintuitive linewidth-broadening phenomenon is obvious when the residual light power after the filter is low enough, typically lower than 2.48×10−4 μW. This novel linewidth-broadening effect is different from the well-known Lorentzian, Doppler, and Voigt broadening, and is likely to be more independent evidence of the discrete wavelet structure of classical plane light waves. The effect is significant in high-sensitivity spectroscopy measurements, for example streak camera spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy experiments. In addition, this effect may also be significant for cosmological research.