Lifetime measurement of the cesium 6P{sub 3/2} state using ultrafast laser-pulse excitation and ionization

Journal Article · Fri Jul 15 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.84.010501· OSTI ID:22038561

Sell, J F; Patterson, B M; Ehrenreich, T; Brooke, G; Scoville, J; Knize, R J ^[1]

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1. Laser and Optics Research Center, Department of Physics, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado 80840 (United States)

We report a precision measurement of the cesium 6P{sub 3/2} excited-state lifetime. Two collimated, counterpropagating thermal Cs beams cross perpendicularly to femtosecond pulsed laser beams. High timing accuracy is achieved from having excitation and ionization laser pulses which originate from the same mode-locked laser. Using pulse selection we vary the separation in time between excitation and ionization laser pulses while counting the ions produced. We obtain a Cs 6P{sub 3/2} lifetime of 30.460(38) ns, which is a factor of two improvement from previous measurements and with an uncertainty of 0.12%, is one of the most accurate lifetime measurements on record.

• OSTI ID: 22038561
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Vol. 84, Issue 1; Other Information: (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1050-2947
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
ACCURACY
CESIUM
CESIUM IONS
EXCITATION
LASERS
LIFETIME
PHOTOIONIZATION
PULSES