Balanced detection of linear dichroism signals in cesium

We present the results of a theoretical and experimental comparison of methods for recording linear dichroism signals that arise in saturated alkali metal vapor (cesium) under the influence of linearly polarized light propagating perpendicular to the magnetic field. Such signals are of both fundamental and applied interest, primarily for the implementation of new laser frequency stabilization methods based on atomic transitions. In addition to the standard method of measuring the full intensity of the probe light, we investigated the balance detection method, widely used for detecting circular birefringence signals; its main advantage is that it suppresses laser intensity noise. It is shown that when recording linear dichroism signals, the use of this method can also provide an advantage in signal-to-noise ratio. The use of balanced schemes opens up additional possibilities for the application of the linear dichroism effect.