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Physical Review A

Lifetime measurements of the 7p levels of atomic francium

J. E. Simsarian, Luis A. Orozco, Gene D. Sprouse, W. Z. Zhao

Published Apr 1, 1998• 95 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We present lifetime measurements of the ${7p}^{2}{P}_{3/2}$ and ${7p}^{2}{P}_{1/2}$ levels of Fr. We use a time-correlated single-photon counting technique on a cold sample of ${}^{210}\mathrm{Fr}$ atoms in a magneto-optic trap. We excite the atoms with the trapping and repumping beams of the magneto-optic trap and detect the decay of the atomic fluorescence. The results are a precision experimental test of the atomic many-body perturbation theory applied to the heaviest alkali metal. The lifetime results are 21.02(11) ns and 29.45(11) ns for the ${7p}^{2}{P}_{3/2}$ and ${7p}^{2}{P}_{1/2}$ levels, respectively. This gives a line strength ratio ${\mathcal{S}}_{1/2}$/${\mathcal{S}}_{3/2}$ of 0.526(3) for these levels in Fr. To study sources of systematic errors we measure the lifetimes of ${5p}^{2}{P}_{3/2}$ and ${5p}^{2}{P}_{1/2}$ in stable ${}^{87}\mathrm{Rb}$ and obtain 26.20(9) ns and 27.64(4) ns, respectively.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.57.2448

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We present the first measurement of an atomic radiative lifetime in Fr. We use a time-correlated single photon counting technique with a cold sample of 210Fr{}^{210}\mathrm{Fr}210Fr atoms in a magneto-optic trap. The results are a precision experimental test of the atomic many-body perturbation theory applied to the heaviest alkali. The lifetime for the 7p2P3/27p{}^{2}{P}_{3/2}7p2P3/2​ level of 21.02(16)21.02(16)21.02(16) ns gives a value for the reduced transition matrix element between the levels $7s{}^{2}{S}_{1/2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}7p{}^{2}{P}_{3/2}$ of $5.898(22){a}_{\ensuremath{\infty}}$ atomic units.
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We present lifetime measurements of the 7D3/2{7D}_{3/2}7D3/2​ and 7D5/2{7D}_{5/2}7D5/2​ levels of Fr. We use a time-correlated single-photon counting technique on a sample of 210Fr{}^{210}\mathrm{Fr}210Fr atoms confined and cooled in a magneto-optical trap. The upper state of the 7P3/2{7P}_{3/2}7P3/2​ trapping transition serves as the resonant intermediate level for two-photon excitation of the 7D7D7D states. A probe laser provides the second step of the excitation, and we detect the decay of the atomic fluorescence. Our measurements help extend the knowledge of this class of atomic wave functions in which correlation effects are very significant. We measure lifetimes of $73.6\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.3 \mathrm{ns}$ and $67.7\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}2.9 \mathrm{ns}$ for the 7D3/2{7D}_{3/2}7D3/2​ and 7D5/2{7D}_{5/2}7D5/2​ levels, respectively.
Francium is the least studied of the alkali atoms because it has no stable isotopes. We have performed precision spectroscopy on cold Fr atoms in a magneto optical trap. We have determined the location of the first two excited states of the S series by two-photon spectroscopy. We have measured the lifetimes of the 7p levels with a precision better than 0.5%. Our measurements test the many-body perturbation theory ab initio calculations of the dipole matrix element to very high accuracy in this relativistic alkali.
We measure the lifetime of the 8s8s8s level of 210Fr^{210}\mathrm{Fr}210Fr atoms on a magneto-optically trapped sample with time-correlated single-photon counting. The 7P1∕27{P}_{1∕2}7P1∕2​ state serves as the resonant intermediate level for two-step excitation of the 8s8s8s level completed with a $1.3\text{\ensuremath{-}}\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{m}$ laser. Analysis of the fluorescence decay through the 7P3∕27{P}_{3∕2}7P3∕2​ level gives $53.30\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.44\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{ns}$ for the 8s8s8s level lifetime.