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Physical Review A

Fast-beam laser lifetime measurements of the cesium 6p2P1/2,3/2 states

Robert J. Rafac, Carol E. Tanner, A. E. Livingston, H. G. Berry

Published Nov 1, 1999• 92 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We provide a detailed description of our fast-beam laser lifetime measurements in atomic cesium. Selective excitation of the neutral ${}^{133}\mathrm{Cs}$ $6p{}^{2}{P}_{1/2}$ and $6p{}^{2}{P}_{3/2}$ states is accomplished with resonant diode laser light directed transversely to the atomic velocity. The in-flight decay of the excited-state fluorescence is observed with a position-correlated single photon-counting detector. The Doppler-shifted $6p{}^{2}{P}_{3/2}$ resonance, when probed with longitudinally propagating laser radiation, provides a precise means for determination of the beam velocity, and converts the position scale to a time scale. Our lifetime results are $35.07\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.10 \mathrm{ns}$ for the $6p{}^{2}{P}_{1/2}$ state and $30.57\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.07 \mathrm{ns}$ for the $6p{}^{2}{P}_{3/2}$ state. These results represent a data set larger than in our previous work, and include beam divergence corrections which have been evaluated by two different methods. We present comparisons of our results with previous measurements and with relativistic many-body calculations of atomic transition matrix elements in this neutral alkali system.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.60.3648

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We provide a detailed description of our fast-beam laser lifetime measurements in atomic cesium. Selective excitation of the neutral 133Cs{}^{133}\mathrm{Cs}133Cs 6p2P1/26p{}^{2}{P}_{1/2}6p2P1/2​ and 6p2P3/26p{}^{2}{P}_{3/2}6p2P3/2​ states is accomplished with resonant diode laser light directed transversely to the atomic velocity. The in-flight decay of the excited-state fluorescence is observed with a position-correlated single photon-counting detector. The Doppler-shifted 6p2P3/26p{}^{2}{P}_{3/2}6p2P3/2​ resonance, when probed with longitudinally propagating laser radiation, provides a precise means for determination of the beam velocity, and converts the position scale to a time scale. Our lifetime results are 35.07\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi0.10ns35.07\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.10 \mathrm{ns}35.07\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi0.10ns for the 6p2P1/26p{}^{2}{P}_{1/2}6p2P1/2​ state and 30.57\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi0.07ns30.57\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.07 \mathrm{ns}30.57\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi0.07ns for the 6p2P3/26p{}^{2}{P}_{3/2}6p2P3/2​ state. These results represent a data set larger than in our previous work, and include beam divergence corrections which have been evaluated by two different methods. We present comparisons of our results with previous measurements and with relativistic many-body calculations of atomic transition matrix elements in this neutral alkali system.
The lifetimes of the 7 2{\mathrm{}}^{2}2P1/2o{P}_{1/2}^{o}P1/2o​ and 7 2{\mathrm{}}^{2}2P3/2o{P}_{3/2}^{o}P3/2o​ states of thallium have been measured for the first time by observing the fluorescence decay following two-photon resonant excitation in an atomic beam. The values obtained for these states are 61.9 and 48.4 ns, respectively, with an uncertainty of 2%. These results are in good quantitative agreement with the calculations of Bardsley and Norcross, which include the effect of core polarizability.
We present lifetime measurements of the 7p2P3/2{7p}^{2}{P}_{3/2}7p2P3/2​ and 7p2P1/2{7p}^{2}{P}_{1/2}7p2P1/2​ levels of Fr. We use a time-correlated single-photon counting technique on a cold sample of 210Fr{}^{210}\mathrm{Fr}210Fr 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 7p2P3/2{7p}^{2}{P}_{3/2}7p2P3/2​ and 7p2P1/2{7p}^{2}{P}_{1/2}7p2P1/2​ levels, respectively. This gives a line strength ratio S1/2{\mathcal{S}}_{1/2}S1/2​/S3/2{\mathcal{S}}_{3/2}S3/2​ of 0.526(3) for these levels in Fr. To study sources of systematic errors we measure the lifetimes of 5p2P3/2{5p}^{2}{P}_{3/2}5p2P3/2​ and 5p2P1/2{5p}^{2}{P}_{1/2}5p2P1/2​ in stable 87Rb{}^{87}\mathrm{Rb}87Rb and obtain 26.20(9) ns and 27.64(4) ns, respectively.
We present a direct lifetime measurement of the 5s5p1P15s5p{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{1}{P}_{1}5s5p1P1​ state of strontium using time-correlated single-photon counting of laser-induced fluorescence in a hot atomic beam. To achieve fast switch-off times and a high signal-to-noise ratio, we excite the strontium atoms with a femtosecond pulsed laser at approximately 461 nm and collect the fluorescence onto a hybrid single-photon detector. Analysis of the measured exponential decay gives a lifetime of the 1P1{}^{1}{P}_{1}1P1​ state of $\ensuremath{\tau}=(5.216\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.{006}_{\text{stat}}\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.{013}_{\text{sys}})$ ns, where all the systematic effects have been thoroughly considered.
We report a measurement of the ratio of electric dipole transition matrix elements of cesium for the $6p{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{2}{P}_{1/2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}7s{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{2}{S}_{1/2}$ and $6p{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{2}{P}_{3/2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}7s{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{2}{S}_{1/2}$ transitions. We determine this ratio of matrix elements through comparisons of two-color, two-photon excitation rates of the 7s2S1/27s{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{2}{S}_{1/2}7s2S1/2​ state using laser beams with polarizations parallel to one another vs perpendicular to one another. Our result of $R\ensuremath{\equiv}\ensuremath{\langle}7s{\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}}^{2}{S}_{1/2}||r||6p{\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}}^{2}{P}_{3/2}\ensuremath{\rangle}/\ensuremath{\langle}7s{\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}}^{2}{S}_{1/2}||r||6p{\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}}^{2}{P}_{1/2}\ensuremath{\rangle}=1.5272(17)$ is in excellent agreement with a theoretical prediction of R=1.5270(27)R=1.5270(27)R=1.5270(27). Moreover, the accuracy of the experimental ratio is sufficiently high to differentiate between various theoretical approaches. To our knowledge, there are no prior experimental measurements of RRR. Combined with our recent determination of the lifetime of the 7s2S1/27s{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{2}{S}_{1/2}7s2S1/2​ state, we determine reduced matrix elements for these two transitions, $\ensuremath{\langle}7s{\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}}^{2}{S}_{1/2}||r||6p{\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}}^{2}{P}_{3/2}\ensuremath{\rangle}=\ensuremath{-}6.489(5)\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}{a}_{0}$ and $\ensuremath{\langle}7s{\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}}^{2}{S}_{1/2}||r||6p{\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}}^{2}{P}_{1/2}\ensuremath{\rangle}=\ensuremath{-}4.249(4)\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}{a}_{0}$. These matrix elements are also in excellent agreement with theoretical calculations. These measurements improve knowledge of Cs properties needed for parity violation studies and provide benchmarks for tests of high-precision theory.
We report resolution of the 1% discrepancy between theory and experiment for the lifetime of the first excited state of Na. Determining the atomic lifetime by a novel method, we have measured the natural linewidth of the $3{}^{2}{S}_{1/2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}3{}^{2}{P}_{3/2}$ transition with <0.25<0.25%<0.25 accuracy through precision spectroscopy on an optically prepared sample of ultracold, two-level atoms. The resulting 32P3/23{}^{2}{P}_{3/2}32P3/2​ lifetime of 16.237(35) ns disagrees with previous time-domain measurements but is in good agreement with recent calculations and a new fast beam result.