Hyperfine structure measurement of
87Rb atoms injected into superfluid helium as highly energetic ion beam
In this paper, we report on a laser spectroscopy measurement of ${}^{84\ensuremath{-}87}\mathrm{Rb}$ isotopes in superfluid helium (He ii) at 1.8 K using laser--radio-frequency double-resonance spectroscopy. Rb ion beams
(>60 MeV/u) provided by the RIKEN projectile fragment separator (RIPS) were injected and trapped into He ii. The stopping position of atoms in He ii was precisely confirmed by laser spectroscopy. By optically pumping the trapped Rb isotopes, large atomic spin polarization (up to 40%) of each observed isotope in the ground state was achieved. The laser--radio-frequency double-resonance spectra were observed for stable
85,87Rb isotopes as well as for unstable isotopes
84,84m,86Rb by scanning a weak magnetic field with a fixed-frequency RF field. From the measured Zeeman splitting, nuclear spin values for ${}^{84m,84\ensuremath{-}87}\mathrm{Rb}$ isotopes were determined with reasonable accuracy. The number of ions injected into He ii for the resonance spectra measurement was on the order of
104 particles per second. This work may open new opportunities for the study of various particles trapped in condensed helium in several fields.
We investigate experimentally and theoretically the Faraday effect in an atomic medium in the hyperfine Paschen–Back regime, where the Zeeman interaction is larger than the hyperfine splitting. We use a small permanent magnet and a micro-fabricated vapour cell, giving magnetic fields of the order of a tesla. We show that for low absorption and small rotation angles, the refractive index is well approximated by the Faraday rotation signal, giving a simple way to measure the atomic refractive index. Fitting to the atomic spectra, we achieve magnetic field sensitivity at the 10−4 level. Finally we note that the Faraday signal shows zero crossings which can be used as temperature insensitive error signals for laser frequency stabilization at large detuning. The theoretical sensitivity for 87Rb is found to be ∼40 kHz °C−1.