Physical Review A
Measurement of the 4s4pP1−4s3dD1 spontaneous emission rate in calcium by use of a Stark-electric-quadrupole interference
Laurent Lellouch, L. R. Hunter
Abstract
An interference between electric quadrupole and Stark-induced dipole amplitudes is observed for the first time in calcium. From our measurement of the atomic polarization produced by this interference we obtain $A(4s4p^{1}P\ensuremath{-}4s3d^{1}D)=(3.68\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.89\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.11)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{3}$ ${\mathrm{s}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$. This result suggests that the laser cooling of atomic calcium is feasible.