Experimental and theoretical study of the 3d {sup 2}D-level lifetimes of {sup 40}Ca{sup +}

Journal Article · Tue Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 2005 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.71.032504· OSTI ID:20650392

Kreuter, A; Becher, C; Lancaster, G P.T.; Mundt, A B; Russo, C; Haeffner, H; Roos, C; Haensel, W; Schmidt-Kaler, F; Blatt, R; Safronova, M S ^[1]

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1. Institut fuer Experimentalphysik, Universitaet Innsbruck, Technikerstrasse 25, A-6020 Innsbruck (Austria)

We report measurements of the lifetimes of the 3d {sup 2}D{sub 5/2} and 3d {sup 2}D{sub 3/2} metastable states of a single laser-cooled {sup 40}Ca{sup +} ion in a linear Paul trap. We introduce a measurement technique based on high-efficiency quantum state detection after coherent excitation to the D{sub 5/2} state or incoherent shelving in the D{sub 3/2} state, and subsequent free, unperturbed spontaneous decay. The result for the natural lifetime of the D{sub 5/2} state of 1168(9) ms agrees excellently with the most precise published value. The lifetime of the D{sub 3/2} state is measured with a single ion and yields 1176(11) ms which improves the statistical uncertainty of previous results by a factor of four. We compare these experimental lifetimes to high-precision ab initio all order calculations [D{sub 3/2} state: 1196(11) ms; D{sub 5/2} state: 1165(11) ms] and find a very good agreement. These calculations represent an excellent test of high-precision atomic theory and will serve as a benchmark for the study of parity nonconservation in Ba{sup +} which has similar atomic structure.

• OSTI ID: 20650392
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Journal Name: Physical Review. A Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 71; ISSN 1050-2947; ISSN PLRAAN
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
ACCURACY
BARIUM IONS
BENCHMARKS
CALCIUM
CALCIUM IONS
CATIONS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
COOLING
DECAY
DETECTION
EFFICIENCY
EXCITATION
LASER RADIATION
LIFETIME
METASTABLE STATES
P INVARIANCE
PHOTON-ATOM COLLISIONS
TRAPPING
TRAPS
YIELDS