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Physical Review Letters

Experimental Determination of the Mg24 I (3s3p)P23 Lifetime

Brian B. Jensen, He Ming, Philip G. Westergaard, K. Gunnarsson, Martin Madsen, Anders Brusch, Jan Hald, Jan W. Thomsen

Published Sep 7, 2011• 14 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We present the first experimental determination of the electric-dipole forbidden $(3s3p)^{3}P_{2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}(3{s}^{2})^{1}S_{0}$ ($M2$) transition rate in $^{24}\mathrm{Mg}$ and compare to state-of-the-art theoretical predictions. Our measurement exploits a magnetic trap isolating the sample from perturbations and a magneto-optical trap as an amplifier converting each $^{3}P_{2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}^{1}S_{0}$ decay event into millions of photons readily detected. The transition rate is determined to be $(4.87\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.3)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}4}\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{s}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ corresponding to a $^{3}P_{2}$ lifetime of ${2050}_{\ensuremath{-}110}^{+140}$ sec. This value is in agreement with recent theoretical predictions, and to our knowledge the longest lifetime ever determined in a laboratory environment.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.107.113001

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We demonstrate an accurate method for measuring the lifetime of long-lived metastable magnetic states using a magneto-optical trap (MOT). Through optical pumping, the metastable (3s3p) 3P1(3s3p)\text{ }{^{3}P}_{1}(3s3p) 3P1​ level is populated in a standard MOT. During the optical pumping process, a fraction of the population is captured in the magnetic quadrupole field of the MOT. When the metastable atoms decay to the (3s2) 1S0(3{s}^{2})\text{ }{^{1}S}_{0}(3s2) 1S0​ ground state they are recaptured into the MOT. In this system no alternative cascading transition is possible. The lifetime of the metastable level is measured directly as an exponential load time of the MOT. We have experimentally tested our method by measuring the lifetime of the (3s3p) 3P1(3s3p)\text{ }{^{3}P}_{1}(3s3p) 3P1​ of 24Mg^{24}\text{M}\text{g}24Mg. This lifetime has been measured numerous times previously, but with quite different results. Using our method we find the (3s3p) 3P1(3s3p)\text{ }{^{3}P}_{1}(3s3p) 3P1​ lifetime to be $(4.4\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.2)\text{ }\text{ms}$. Theoretical values point toward a lower value for the lifetime.
We have measured the spin-forbidden decay rate from $(3s3d){^{1}D}_{2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}(3s3p){^{3}P}_{2,1}$ in 24Mg^{24}\text{M}\text{g}24Mg atoms trapped in a magneto-optical trap. The total decay rate, summing up both exit channels (3s3p)3P1(3s3p){^{3}P}_{1}(3s3p)3P1​ and (3s3p)3P2(3s3p){^{3}P}_{2}(3s3p)3P2​, yields $196\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}10\text{ }{\text{s}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ in excellent agreement with resent relativistic many-body calculations of Porsev et al. [Phys. Rev. A 64, 012508 (2001)]. The characterization of this decay channel is important as it may limit the performance of quantum optics experiments carried out with this ladder system as well as two-photon cooling experiments currently explored in several groups.
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We report magnetic trapping of Yb in the excited 3P2{}^{3}{P}_{2}3P2​ state. This state, with a lifetime of 15 s, could play an important role in studies ranging from optical clocks and quantum computation to the search for a permanent electric dipole moment. Yb atoms are first cooled and trapped in the ground state in a 399-nm magneto-optic trap. The cold atoms are then pumped into the excited state by driving the ${}^{1}{S}_{0}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{}^{3}{P}_{1}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{}^{3}{S}_{1}$ transition. Atoms in the 3P2{}^{3}{P}_{2}3P2​ state are magnetically trapped in a spherical quadrupole field with an axial gradient of 110 G/cm. We trap up to 106{10}^{6}106 atoms with a lifetime of 1.5 s.
The lifetime of the 7s6d7s6d7s6d 1D2{^{1}D}_{2}1D2​ state of atomic radium is determined to be $385(45)\text{ }\ensuremath{\mu}\text{s}$ using cold 226Ra^{226}\text{R}\text{a}226Ra atoms prepared in a magneto-optical trap. The 1D2{^{1}D}_{2}1D2​ state is populated from the decay of the 1P1{^{1}P}_{1}1P1​ state which is excited by a pulse of 483 nm light. The decay of the 1D2{^{1}D}_{2}1D2​ state is observed by detecting delayed fluorescence at 714 nm from the last step in the decay sequence ${^{1}P}_{1}\text{\ensuremath{-}}{^{1}D}_{2}\text{\ensuremath{-}}{^{3}P}_{1}\text{\ensuremath{-}}{^{1}S}_{0}$. The measured lifetime is compared to a number of theoretical calculations. An improved value of the 7s7p7s7p7s7p 1P1{^{1}P}_{1}1P1​ level of $20\text{ }715.598(6)\text{ }{\text{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ is obtained.