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Laser Trapping of Ra225 and Ra226 with Repumping by Room-Temperature Blackbody Radiation

J. R. Guest, N. D. Scielzo, I. Ahmad, K. Bailey, J. P. Greene, R. J. Holt, Z.-T. Lu, T. P. O’Connor, and D. H. Potterveld
Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 093001 – Published 27 February 2007
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Abstract

We have demonstrated Zeeman slowing and capture of neutral Ra225 and Ra226 atoms in a magneto-optical trap. The intercombination transition S01→P13 is the only quasicycling transition in radium and was used for laser-cooling and trapping. Repumping along the D13→P11 transition extended the lifetime of the trap from milliseconds to seconds. Room-temperature blackbody radiation was demonstrated to provide repumping from the metastable P03 level. We measured the isotope shift and hyperfine splittings on the D13→P11 transition with the laser-cooled atoms, and set a limit on the lifetime of the D13 level based on the measured blackbody repumping rate. Laser-cooled and trapped radium is an attractive system for studying fundamental symmetries.

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  • Received 15 November 2006

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.093001

©2007 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

J. R. Guest1, N. D. Scielzo1, I. Ahmad1, K. Bailey1, J. P. Greene1, R. J. Holt1, Z.-T. Lu1,2, T. P. O’Connor1, and D. H. Potterveld1

  • 1Physics Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA
  • 2Department of Physics and the Enrico Fermi Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA

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Vol. 98, Iss. 9 — 2 March 2007

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  • Figure 1
    Figure 1
    Energy level diagram and decay rates for radium. Energies [8] are indicated at the left, and calculated decay rates [11] are shown (P13 lifetime comes from experiment [12]). The 300 K blackbody photon number density is shown on the same energy scale in the inset.Reuse & Permissions
  • Figure 2
    Figure 2
    Laser-trapping of Ra226 atoms. (a) Spectra of the atoms in the atomic beam (multiplied by 100×, open circles) and laser-cooled in the MOT (solid circles). (b) The number of atoms detected in the MOT over the 1.8 s following the shuttering (unshuttering) of the slower beam at t=0 yields the lifetime (loading) curve which is shown by solid (open) circles. Both curves are fit by exponentials and yield the identical lifetime τ=1.1  s for these data.Reuse & Permissions
  • Figure 3
    Figure 3
    Repump events (483 nm photons) observed versus time as the repump laser is shuttered and unshuttered (laser-cooling is on continuously). Experimental data (solid circles) and a double exponential fit (solid line for t>5  ms) are shown with a dotted line indicating the steady-state repumping rate. The inset shows the relevant levels and the calculated transition rates due to spontaneous emission (straight arrows) and thermal radiation (curved arrows).Reuse & Permissions
  • Figure 4
    Figure 4
    Number of Ra225 and Ra226 atoms in the trap, as measured by fluorescence at 714 nm, vs. the wave number of the 1429 nm repump laser recorded by the wave meter. The Ra225 data are scaled by 100× to compare to Ra226, which is offset on the vertical scale for clarity. The repump resonances are indicated in the inset level schematic.Reuse & Permissions
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