A single Sr+ atom was confined in a radio-frequency quadrupole trap and laser cooled with resonant laser light. Examination of the transition Doppler profile indicated an ion kinetic temperature of less than 500 mK. Quantum jumps into and out of the metastable 4d(2)D(5/2) level were observed by laser excitation on the electric-quadrupole-allowed transition from the ground state at 674 nm. The dark and bright periods in the strong fluorescence showed variations owing to the applied driving field on the electric-quadrupole transition. These results provide an improved determination of tau = 372 +/- 25 msec for the natural metastable-state lifetime.
We performed laser spectroscopy of
In+ ions stored in a radio-frequency trap. The 5
s2 1S0\ensuremath{\rightarrow}5s5p
3P1 transition at 230.6 nm was excited and its hyperfine splitting and isotope shift have been measured. The lifetime of the
3P1 state was measured using intensity modulated laser excitation: \ensuremath{\tau}
(3P1)=0.44(4) \ensuremath{\mu}s. A single indium ion was laser cooled using this intercombination line and dark periods in the fluorescence were observed when the metastable
3P0 state was populated by a magnetic dipole decay from
3P1. The radiative lifetime of the forbidden transition
3P0${\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}^{1}$
S0 was determined from the duration of the dark periods: \ensuremath{\tau}
(3P0)=0.14(2) s. This value is compared to calculations based on perturbation theory. Prospects for an optical frequency standard using the narrow 5
s2 1S0\ensuremath{\rightarrow}5s5p
3P0 resonance at 236.5 nm of a single laser-cooled indium ion are discussed.
We performed laser spectroscopy of
In+ ions stored in a radio-frequency trap. The 5
s2 1S0\ensuremath{\rightarrow}5s5p
3P1 transition at 230.6 nm was excited and its hyperfine splitting and isotope shift have been measured. The lifetime of the
3P1 state was measured using intensity modulated laser excitation: \ensuremath{\tau}
(3P1)=0.44(4) \ensuremath{\mu}s. A single indium ion was laser cooled using this intercombination line and dark periods in the fluorescence were observed when the metastable
3P0 state was populated by a magnetic dipole decay from
3P1. The radiative lifetime of the forbidden transition
3P0${\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}^{1}$
S0 was determined from the duration of the dark periods: \ensuremath{\tau}
(3P0)=0.14(2) s. This value is compared to calculations based on perturbation theory. Prospects for an optical frequency standard using the narrow 5
s2 1S0\ensuremath{\rightarrow}5s5p
3P0 resonance at 236.5 nm of a single laser-cooled indium ion are discussed.
Quantum jumps due solely to spontaneous Raman scattering between the Zeeman sublevels of a single
24Mg+ ion have been observed in the fluorescence emitted by the ion. A theory of quantum jumps for this system predicts that coherences between excited levels cause the ratio of the mean duration of the "fluorescence-on periods" to the mean duration of the "fluorescence-off periods" to be independent of laser intensity. The measured value agrees with the predicted one to within the measurement precision of 2%. The distribution of the durations of the off periods also agrees with theory.
We report observation of laser excitation of a narrow, magnetic-dipole-allowed, infrared transition in a single trapped ion. Quantum jumps of a
Ba+ atom were observed using a diode laser tuned in resonance with the excited-state 5d
2D3/2--5d
2D5/2 transition at 12.48 \ensuremath{\mu}m. Single-ion resonance line shapes were obtained and a transition frequency of \ensuremath{\nu}=24 012 033\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}11 MHz was determined. Calculated quantum jump rates of the D-D transition for the applied laser spectral brightness yield agreement with experimentally observed values.