High-precision frequency measurement of the 423-nm Ca i line

Journal Article · Sat Jan 15 00:00:00 EST 2011 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.83.012502· OSTI ID:21529062

Salumbides, E J; Maslinskas, V; Dildar, I M; Wolf, A L; Duijn, E.-J. van; Eikema, K S. E.; Ubachs, W ^[1]

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1. Institute for Lasers, Life and Biophotonics Amsterdam, VU University, De Boelelaan 1081, 1081 HV Amsterdam (Netherlands)

We have performed an accurate frequency calibration of the 4s{sup 2} {sup 1}S{sub 0{yields}}4s4p {sup 1}P{sub 1} principal resonance line of the neutral calcium atom at 423 nm. Doppler-free cw excitation on a Ca atomic beam was performed by utilizing a Sagnac geometry in the alignment of the excitation beams. From frequency calibrations against a frequency comb, stabilized to a global positioning system (GPS) disciplined Rb standard, the transition frequency is determined at 709 078 373.01(35) MHz for the main {sup 40}Ca isotope. Slightly lower accuracies are obtained for the transition frequencies of the less abundant isotopes. The achieved fractional uncertainty of 5x10{sup -10} exceeds the requirements for including this transition in investigations that aim to probe a possible variation in the fine-structure constant {alpha} on cosmological time scales.

• OSTI ID: 21529062
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Vol. 83, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.83.012502; (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 1050-2947
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
ACCURACY
ALIGNMENT
ATOMIC BEAMS
ATOMS
CALCIUM
CALCIUM 40
CALIBRATION
EXCITATION
FINE STRUCTURE
FREQUENCY MEASUREMENT
GEOMETRY
GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM
MHZ RANGE
PROBES
RESONANCE
ALKALINE EARTH ISOTOPES
ALKALINE EARTH METALS
BEAMS
CALCIUM ISOTOPES
ELEMENTS
ENERGY-LEVEL TRANSITIONS
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
FREQUENCY RANGE
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
MATHEMATICS
METALS
NUCLEI
STABLE ISOTOPES