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Journal of Physics B Atomic and Molecular Physics

Coherent optical transient measurements of absolute and differential Stark shifts in atomic sodium

Peter Hannaford, W. R. MacGillivray, M. C. Standage

Published Dec 28, 1979• 9 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A coherent optical transient technique has been used for the first time to study the Stark effect in atoms. This technique involves the recording of transients in the intensity of single-mode laser radiation transmitted by an atomic vapour following the sudden application of an electric-field pulse. It allows both absolute and differential Stark shifts to be measured to a precision which is limited only by the power-broadened natural linewidth of the transition. The feasibility of this technique is demonstrated by measuring the scalar ( alpha0) and tensor ( alpha2) polarisabilities associated with the sodium 32P1/2and 32P3/2levels of sodium. The resolution is such that the effect of the hyperfine structure on the Stark shifts has to be included in the analysis. Our values for the polarisabilities are alpha0=0+or-3.3 kHz (kV cm-1)-2and alpha2=28.1+or-3.9 KHz (kV cm-1)-2. These results are compared with experimental and theoretical values obtained by other authors.

DOI
10.1088/0022-3700/12/24/010

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Stark-effect study of excited states in sodium using two-photon spectroscopy

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Stark-Effekt-Untersuchung der Hyperfeinstruktur des 3 2P3/2-Zustands von Natrium mit der Level-crossing-Methode / Stark-Effect Investigation of the Hyperfine Structure of the 3 2P3/2-State of Sodium by Level-Crossing-Method

D. Zimmermann

Abstract The level-crossing-method has been used for an investigation of the hyperfine structure of the first excited 3 2P3/2-state of sodium applying an additional electric field parallel to the usual mag. netic field. By means of a detailed analysis of the measured change in intensity of the scattered fluorescence light due to the electric field the constant β of the quadratic Stark-effect of the 3 2P3/2-state of sodium was deduced to be β= (10.8± 1.2) kc/s·(kV/cm)2. The experimental result will be discussed with respect to a determination of upper and lower limits for oscillator strengths of transitions between the 3 2P3/2-state and S-states in the sodium spectrum.

Zeitschrift für Naturforschung A•Feb 1, 1970•5 citations
A coherent optical transient technique has been used for the first time to study the Stark effect in atoms. This technique involves the recording of transients in the intensity of single-mode laser radiation transmitted by an atomic vapour following the sudden application of an electric-field pulse. It allows both absolute and differential Stark shifts to be measured to a precision which is limited only by the power-broadened natural linewidth of the transition. The feasibility of this technique is demonstrated by measuring the scalar ( alpha0) and tensor ( alpha2) polarisabilities associated with the sodium 32P1/2and 32P3/2levels of sodium. The resolution is such that the effect of the hyperfine structure on the Stark shifts has to be included in the analysis. Our values for the polarisabilities are alpha0=0+or-3.3 kHz (kV cm-1)-2and alpha2=28.1+or-3.9 KHz (kV cm-1)-2. These results are compared with experimental and theoretical values obtained by other authors.
A Stark effect experiment is presented, which involves the recording of transients in radiation resonantly scattered by a vapour, following the sudden application of an electric field pulse. The theory of this effect is developed from the case where a general step-function perturbation is applied. The transients have the form of damped sinusoidal oscillations: the damping is determined by the rate of radiative decay; the modulation frequencies depend directly on the energy-level splittings caused by the applied field. This technique has been to measure the magnitude and sign of the differential Stark shifts in the 6 3 P 1 level of 198 Hg and 199 Hg. These lead to a value for the tensor polarizability which is in good agreement with recent measurements. Results are presented of a calculation of the polarizabilities of the 6 3 P 1 and 6 1 S 0 levels based on experimental oscillator strengths.
The Stark effect of the 5 s 2 S 1/2 –5 p 2 P 3/2 transition ( D 2 line) of Rb has been studied by high-resolution atomic-beam laser spectroscopy. The splittings of magnetic sublevels of 5 p 2 P 3/2 have been resolved, and the Stark shifts and splittings of the D 2 line have been measured at various electric fields. The scalar polarizability of the D 2 line and the tensor polarizability of the 5 p 2 P 3/2 level have been determined to be α s (5 p 2 P 3/2 ) - α s (5 s 2 S 1/2 ) = 136.95(89) kHz/(kV/cm) 2 and α t (5 p 2 P 3/2 ) = -40.91(38) kHz/(kV/cm) 2 , respectively, by considering the mixing between hyperfine structure levels of 5 p 2 P 3/2 . The precision of α t (5 p 2 P 3/2 ) has been improved by a factor of 2 compared with the previously reported values.
We have used two-photon absorption from counterpropagating laser beams of different frequencies to measure Stark shifts and splittings of the 62S6^{2}S62S, 72S7^{2}S72S, 82S8^{2}S82S, 52D5^{2}D52D, and 62D6^{2}D62D states in sodium. Beams from a fixed-frequency, single-mode Ar+{\mathrm{Ar}}^{+}Ar+ laser and a tunable, single-frequency cw dye laser were focussed into a coarse sodium atomic beam and the fluorescence was monitored. The collimation of the atomic beam reduced the residual Doppler width inherent in using two different frequencies. Using the two lasers allowed two-photon transitions to be observed at frequencies unattainable with the dye laser alone, and enhanced the transition rates due to the near resonance of the dye laser with the strong Na $3^{2}S\ensuremath{\rightarrow}3^{2}P$ transition. Our experimental results for the scalar and tensor polarizabilities, ${\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{0}$ and ${\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{2}$, agree with calculations in the Bates and Damgaard Coulomb approximation within 2% for ${\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{0}$ and 9% for ${\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{2}$. As a by-product the hyperfine-interaction constants aaa for the SSS states and the fine-structure intervals $\ensuremath{\delta}\ensuremath{\nu}=\frac{({E}_{\frac{3}{2}}\ensuremath{-}{E}_{\frac{5}{2}})}{h}$ for the DDD states were obtained.
The dc Stark shift of the D1 lines of rubidium and potassium are observed using a pair of cavity-stabilized diode lasers locked to resonance signals. The heterodyne signal from the two lasers and the optical measurements of the electrode spacing yield high-precision results. The observed scalar shifts are found to be 61.153(8) kHz (kV/cm${)}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}2}$ for rubidium and 39.400(5) kHz (kV/cm${)}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}2}$ for potassium. These results represent more than three orders of magnitude improvement in our knowledge of these Stark shifts.
Abstract The level-crossing-method has been used for an investigation of the hyperfine structure of the first excited 3 2P3/2-state of sodium applying an additional electric field parallel to the usual mag. netic field. By means of a detailed analysis of the measured change in intensity of the scattered fluorescence light due to the electric field the constant β of the quadratic Stark-effect of the 3 2P3/2-state of sodium was deduced to be β= (10.8± 1.2) kc/s·(kV/cm)2. The experimental result will be discussed with respect to a determination of upper and lower limits for oscillator strengths of transitions between the 3 2P3/2-state and S-states in the sodium spectrum.