Direct measurement of the fine-structure interval in alkali atoms using diode lasers

Banerjee, Ayan and Rapol, Umakant D and Natarajan, Vasant (2002) Direct measurement of the fine-structure interval in alkali atoms using diode lasers. In: Applied Physics Letters, 80 (20). pp. 3688-3690.

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Abstract

We demonstrate a technique for directly measuring the fine-structure interval in alkali atoms using two frequency-stabilized diode lasers. Each laser has a linewidth of order 1 MHz and precise tunability: one laser is tuned to a hyperfine transition in the D1 line, and the other laser to a hyperfine transition in the D2 line. The outputs of the lasers are fed into a scanning Michelson interferometer that measures the ratio of their wavelengths accurately. To illustrate the technique, we measure the fine-structure interval in Rb, and obtain a value of 237.6000(3)(5) cm–1 for the hyperfine-free 5P3/2–5P1/2 interval.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Applied Physics Letters
Publisher:	American Institute of Physics
Additional Information:	Copyright for this article belongs to American Institute of Physics (AIP).
Department/Centre:	Division of Physical & Mathematical Sciences > Physics
Date Deposited:	16 Nov 2004
Last Modified:	19 Sep 2010 04:17
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/2322

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