Laser Excitation of the Th-229 Nucleus

authored by: J. Tiedau, M. V. Okhapkin, K. Zhang, J. Thielking, G. Zitzer, E. Peik, F. Schaden, T. Pronebner, I. Morawetz, L. Toscani De Col, F. Schneider, A. Leitner, M. Pressler, G. A. Kazakov, K. Beeks, T. Sikorsky, T. Schumm
Abstract: The 8.4 eV nuclear isomer state in Th-229 is resonantly excited in Th-doped CaF2 crystals using a tabletop tunable laser system. A resonance fluorescence signal is observed in two crystals with different Th-229 dopant concentrations, while it is absent in a control experiment using Th-232. The nuclear resonance for the Th4+ ions in Th:CaF2 is measured at the wavelength 148.3821(5) nm, frequency 2020.409(7) THz, and the fluorescence lifetime in the crystal is 630(15) s, corresponding to an isomer half-life of 1740(50) s for a nucleus isolated in vacuum. These results pave the way toward Th-229 nuclear laser spectroscopy and realizing optical nuclear clocks.
External Organisation(s): National Metrology Institute of Germany (PTB)
Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology
Type: Article
Journal: Physical review letters
Volume: 132
ISSN: 0031-9007
Publication date: 29.04.2024
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Physics and Astronomy(all)
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.182501 (Access: Open)

BibTeX

@article{2ca261ec88eb4db496564d840dec5050,
title = "Laser Excitation of the Th-229 Nucleus",
abstract = "The 8.4 eV nuclear isomer state in Th-229 is resonantly excited in Th-doped CaF2 crystals using a tabletop tunable laser system. A resonance fluorescence signal is observed in two crystals with different Th-229 dopant concentrations, while it is absent in a control experiment using Th-232. The nuclear resonance for the Th4+ ions in Th:CaF2 is measured at the wavelength 148.3821(5) nm, frequency 2020.409(7) THz, and the fluorescence lifetime in the crystal is 630(15) s, corresponding to an isomer half-life of 1740(50) s for a nucleus isolated in vacuum. These results pave the way toward Th-229 nuclear laser spectroscopy and realizing optical nuclear clocks.",
author = "J. Tiedau and Okhapkin, {M. V.} and K. Zhang and J. Thielking and G. Zitzer and E. Peik and F. Schaden and T. Pronebner and I. Morawetz and {De Col}, {L. Toscani} and F. Schneider and A. Leitner and M. Pressler and Kazakov, {G. A.} and K. Beeks and T. Sikorsky and T. Schumm",
note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2024 authors. Published by the American Physical Society. Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the {"}https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/{"}Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.",
year = "2024",
month = apr,
day = "29",
doi = "10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.182501",
language = "English",
volume = "132",
journal = "Physical review letters",
issn = "0031-9007",
publisher = "American Physical Society",
number = "18",
}