Effect of buffer gas on electromagnetically induced transparency in a ladder system using thermal rubidium vapor

We report on the first observation of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in a ladder system in the presence of a buffer gas. In particular we study the 5S1/2 - 5P3/2 - 5D5/2 transition in thermal rubidium vapor with a neon buffer gas at a pressure of 6 Torr. In contrast to the line narrowing effect of buffer gas on {\Lambda}-systems we show that the presence of the buffer gas leads to an additional broadening of (32 +/- 5) MHz, which suggests a cross section for Rb(5D5/2)-Ne of {\sigma} = (7 +/- 1) x 10-19 m2. However, in the limit where the coupling Rabi frequency is larger than k the collisional dephasing a strong transparency feature can still be observed.