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arXiv:0804.4173 · Physical Review A

Measurement of the branching ratio in the 6P3∕2 decay of BaII with a single trapped ion

Nathan Kurz, Matthew Dietrich, Gang Shu, R. Bowler, J.S. Salacka, V. Mirgon, B. B. Blinov

Published Jun 18, 2008• 40 citations
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Abstract

We present a measurement of the branching ratios from the $6{P}_{3∕2}$ state of $\mathrm{Ba}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\mathrm{II}$ into all dipole-allowed decay channels ($6{S}_{1∕2}$, $5{D}_{3∕2}$, and $5{D}_{5∕2}$). Measurements were performed on single $^{138}{\mathrm{Ba}}^{+}$ ions in a linear Paul trap with a frequency-doubled mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser resonant with the $6{S}_{1∕2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}6{P}_{3∕2}$ transition at $455\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{nm}$ by detection of electron shelving into the dark $5{D}_{5∕2}$ state. By driving a $\ensuremath{\pi}$ Rabi rotation with a single femtosecond pulse, an absolute measurement of the branching ratio to $5{D}_{5∕2}$ state was performed. Combined with a measurement of the relative decay rates into $5{D}_{3∕2}$ and $5{D}_{5∕2}$ states performed with long trains of highly attenuated $455\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{nm}$ pulses, it allowed the extraction of the absolute ratios of the other two decays. Relative strengths normalized to unity are found to be $0.756\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.046$, $0.0290\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.0015$, and $0.215\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.0064$ for $6{S}_{1∕2}$, $5{D}_{3∕2}$, and $5{D}_{5∕2}$, respectively. This approximately constitutes a threefold improvement over the best previous measurements and is a sufficient level of precision to compare to calculated values for dipole matrix elements.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.77.060501

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Branching fractions for decays from the P3/2{P}_{3/2}P3/2​ level in 138Ba+^{138}\mathrm{Ba}^{+}138Ba+ have been measured with a single laser-cooled ion. Decay probabilities to S1/2{S}_{1/2}S1/2​, D3/2{D}_{3/2}D3/2​, and D5/2{D}_{5/2}D5/2​ are determined to be 0.741716(71), 0.028031(23), and 0.230253(61), respectively, which are an order-of-magnitude improvement over previous results. Our methodology only involves optical pumping and state detection, and is hence relatively free of systematic effects. Measurements are carried out in two different ways to check for consistency. Our analysis also includes a measurement of the D5/2{D}_{5/2}D5/2​ lifetime, for which we obtain 30.14(40) s.
Abstract In the field of quantum metrology, transition matrix elements are crucial for accurately evaluating the black-body radiation shift and the parity-violating amplitude of the clock transition, and can be used as probes to test quantum electrodynamic effects, especially at the 10−310^{-3}10−3-10−410^{-4}10−4 level. We developed a universal experimental approach to precise determination of the dipole transition matrix element with a energy level of two transition channels at various atomic species by using the quantum shelving technique. In which, the time-increased pulses were utilized to induce quantum shelving, and the resulting shelving probabilities were determined by counting the scattered photons from the excited 2 ⁣P1/2^{2}\!P_{1/2}2P1/2​ state to the 2 ⁣S1/2^{2}\!S_{1/2}2S1/2​ ground state. Using the scattered photons offers several advantages, including insensitivity to fluctuations in magnetic field, laser intensity, and frequency detuning. An intensity-alternating sequence to minimize detection noise and a real-time approach for background photon correction were implemented in parallel. We applied this method to single Yb+^++ ion, and determined the 6p 2 ⁣P1/26p~^{2}\!P_{1/2}6p 2P1/2​ - 5d 2 ⁣D3/25d~^{2}\!D_{3/2}5d 2D3/2​ transition matrix element of 2.9395(21)~ea0ea_{0}ea0​, which represents an order of magnitude improvement over previous determination. By combining our result with the 6p 2 ⁣P1/26p~^{2}\!P_{1/2}6p 2P1/2​ lifetime of 8.12(2)~ns, we extracted the 6s 2 ⁣S1/26s~^{2}\!S_{1/2}6s 2S1/2​ - 6p 2 ⁣P1/26p~^{2}\!P_{1/2}6p 2P1/2​ transition matrix element to be 2.4695(31)~ea0ea_{0}ea0​.
We report on spectroscopic results on the $^{2}S_{1/2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}^{2}P_{3/2}$ transition in single trapped Yb+{\mathrm{Yb}}^{+}Yb+ ions. We measure the isotope shifts for all stable Yb+{\mathrm{Yb}}^{+}Yb+ isotopes except 173Yb+^{173}\mathrm{Yb}^{+}173Yb+, as well as the hyperfine splitting of the 2P3/2^{2}P_{3/2}2P3/2​ state in 171Yb+^{171}\mathrm{Yb}^{+}171Yb+. Our results are in agreement with previous measurements but are a factor of 5--9 more precise. For the hyperfine constant A(2P3/2)=875.4(10)MHzA(^{2}P_{3/2})=875.4(10)\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}\mathrm{MHz}A(2P3/2​)=875.4(10)MHz our results also agree with previous measurements but deviate significantly from theoretical predictions. We present experimental results on the branching ratios for the decay of the 2P3/2^{2}P_{3/2}2P3/2​ state. We find branching fractions for the decay to the 2D3/2^{2}D_{3/2}2D3/2​ state and 2D5/2^{2}D_{5/2}2D5/2​ state of 0.17(1)% and 1.08(5)%, respectively, in rough agreement with theoretical predictions. Furthermore, we measured the isotope shifts of the $^{2}F_{7/2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}^{1}D{[5/2]}_{5/2}$ transition and determine the hyperfine structure constant for the 1D[5/2]5/2^{1}D{[5/2]}_{5/2}1D[5/2]5/2​ state in 171Yb+^{171}\mathrm{Yb}^{+}171Yb+ to be $A(^{1}D{[5/2]}_{5/2})=\ensuremath{-}107(6)\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}\mathrm{MHz}$.
We present a high-precision measurement of the 3d2D3/23d\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}^{2}D_{3/2}3d2D3/2​--state lifetime in a single trapped 40Ca+^{40}\mathrm{Ca}^{+}40Ca+. The measurement was performed using a high-efficiency quantum-state detection technique to monitor quantum jumps and a high-precision and highly synchronous measurement sequence for laser control. A feature in our measurement is the pumping rate of the 729-nm laser that was corrected in a real-time way. The 3d2D3/23d\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}^{2}D_{3/2}3d2D3/2​--state lifetime was obtained through the measurement of the spontaneous decay rate after incoherent shelving of the ion to the 3d2D3/23d\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}^{2}D_{3/2}3d2D3/2​ state with a wait time. Systematic errors, such as collisions with background gases, heating effects, impurity components, the shelving and pumping rates, and state detection, were carefully analyzed and estimated. We determined an improved value of the 3d2D3/23d\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}^{2}D_{3/2}3d2D3/2​--state lifetime to be ${\ensuremath{\tau}}_{3/2}=1.195(8)$ s. Furthermore, the $3d\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}^{2}D_{3/2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}4s\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}^{2}S_{1/2}$ quadrupole transition matrix element was measured to be Ski=7.936(26)ea02{S}_{ki}=7.936(26)e{a}_{0}^{2}Ski​=7.936(26)ea02​, and the ratio between the lifetimes of 3d2D3/23d{\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}}^{2}{D}_{3/2}3d2D3/2​ and 3d2D5/23d{\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}}^{2}{D}_{5/2}3d2D5/2​ was determined to be 1.018(11). Our method can be universally applied to lifetime measurements of other single ions and atoms with a similar structure.
We report a measurement of the radium ion's 7p2P3/27p\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}^{2}P_{3/2}7p2P3/2​ state branching fractions and improved theoretical calculations. With a single laser-cooled 226Ra+{}^{226}{\mathrm{Ra}}^{+}226Ra+ ion we measure the P3/2{P}_{3/2}P3/2​ branching fractions to the 7s2S1/27s\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}^{2}S_{1/2}7s2S1/2​ ground state 0.87678(20)0.876\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}78(20)0.87678(20), the 6d2D5/26d\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}^{2}D_{5/2}6d2D5/2​ state 0.10759(10)0.107\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}59(10)0.10759(10), and the 6d2D3/26d\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}^{2}D_{3/2}6d2D3/2​ state 0.01563(21)0.015\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}63(21)0.01563(21).
We report an improved measurement of the Land\'e gJ{g}_{J}gJ​ factor of the 5D5/25{D}_{5/2}5D5/2​ state of singly ionized barium. Measurements were performed on single Doppler-cooled 138{}^{138}138Ba+{}^{+}+ ions in linear Paul traps using two similar, independent apparatuses. Transitions between Zeeman sublevels of the 6S1/26{S}_{1/2}6S1/2​ and 5D5/25{D}_{5/2}5D5/2​ states were driven with two independent, stabilized radio-frequency synthesizers using a dedicated electrode within each ion trap chamber. State detection within each Zeeman manifold was achieved with a frequency-stabilized fiber laser operating at 1.76 $\ensuremath{\mu}$m. By calculating the ratio of the two Zeeman splittings, and using the measured Land\'e gJ{g}_{J}gJ​ factor of the 6S1/26{S}_{1/2}6S1/2​ state, we find a value of 1.200 372(4stat)(7sys)({4}_{\mathrm{stat}})({7}_{\mathrm{sys}})(4stat​)(7sys​) for gD5/2{g}_{{D}_{5/2}}gD5/2​​.