Laser Trapping of {sup 225}Ra and {sup 226}Ra with Repumping by Room-Temperature Blackbody Radiation

Journal Article · Fri Mar 02 04:00:00 EST 2007 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVLETT.98.093001· OSTI ID:20957700

Guest, J R; Scielzo, N D; Ahmad, I; Bailey, K; Greene, J P; Holt, R J; O'Connor, T P; Potterveld, D H ^[1]; Lu, Z -T ^[1]

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1. Physics Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439 (United States)

We have demonstrated Zeeman slowing and capture of neutral {sup 225}Ra and {sup 226}Ra atoms in a magneto-optical trap. The intercombination transition {sup 1}S{sub 0}{yields}{sup 3}P{sub 1} is the only quasicycling transition in radium and was used for laser-cooling and trapping. Repumping along the {sup 3}D{sub 1}{yields}{sup 1}P{sub 1} transition extended the lifetime of the trap from milliseconds to seconds. Room-temperature blackbody radiation was demonstrated to provide repumping from the metastable {sup 3}P{sub 0} level. We measured the isotope shift and hyperfine splittings on the {sup 3}D{sub 1}{yields}{sup 1}P{sub 1} transition with the laser-cooled atoms, and set a limit on the lifetime of the {sup 3}D{sub 1} level based on the measured blackbody repumping rate. Laser-cooled and trapped radium is an attractive system for studying fundamental symmetries.

• OSTI ID: 20957700
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Journal Name: Physical Review Letters Journal Issue: 9 Vol. 98; ISSN 0031-9007; ISSN PRLTAO
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
BLACKBODY RADIATION
CAPTURE
COOLING
LASERS
LIFETIME
MAGNETO-OPTICAL EFFECTS
RADIUM 225
RADIUM 226
SPECTRAL SHIFT
SYMMETRY
TEMPERATURE RANGE 0273-0400 K
TRAPPING
TRAPS
ZEEMAN EFFECT