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Physical Review Letters

Magneto-optic trapping of radioactive Rb79

G. Gwinner, J. A. Behr, Sydney B. Cahn, A. Ghosh, Luis A. Orozco, Gene D. Sprouse, F. R. Xu

Published Jun 13, 1994• 55 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Radioactive $^{79}\mathrm{Rb}$ atoms have been produced in a nuclear reaction and were captured into a magneto-optic trap in a cell. A fluorescence signal was obtained from 80 $^{79}\mathrm{Rb}$ atoms in the trap. The efficiency of the process is estimated as 1\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}5}$ atom in the trap for every atom/sec produced. This efficiency is sufficient to develop further experiments to measure atomic properties of Fr with the eventual goal of observing parity nonconservation effects in neutral atoms of different radioactive isotopes of Fr.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.72.3795

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Optical trapping of selected species of radioactive atoms has great potential in precision measurements for testing fundamental physics such as the electric dipole moment, atomic parity nonconservation, and parity-violating $\ensuremath{\beta}$-decay correlation coefficients. We report on the trapping of 104{10}^{4}104 radioactive 82Rb^{82}\mathrm{Rb}82Rb atoms (t1∕2=75s)({t}_{1∕2}=75\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{s})(t1∕2​=75s) with a trap lifetime of $\ensuremath{\sim}55\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{s}$ in an optical dipole trap. Transfer efficiency from the magneto-optical trap is $\ensuremath{\sim}14%$. We further report evidence of spontaneous spin polarization of the atoms in optical dipole trap loading. These advancements are an important step toward a new generation of precision nuclear-spin--$\ensuremath{\beta}$-emission direction correlation measurements with polarized 82Rb^{82}\mathrm{Rb}82Rb atoms.
A magneto-optical trap for francium radioactive atoms has been set up at the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Legnaro laboratories, and its characterization and optimization are under way. The main features of the Fr+ beam line, of the target, and of the magneto-optical trap are described in detail. Measurements of the Fr-ion production rate as a function of the target temperature, the primary beam intensity, and energy have been made. Preliminary tests with other stable alkali atoms aimed at an improvement of the magneto-optical trap collection efficiency are reported. Fast and efficient trap loading of rubidium has been obtained through the light-induced atomic desorption from an organic coating. A larger number of sodium atoms, as compared with a monochromatic trapping laser, has been trapped by use of a broadband laser.