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arXiv · 0812.3800

Measurement of the Spin-forbidden Decay rate (3s3d)$^{1}$D$_{2}$ $\to$ (3s3p)$^{3}$P$_{2,1}$ in $^{24}$Mg

K. T. Therkildsen·B. B. Jensen·C. P. Ryder·N. Malossi·J. W. Thomsen
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Abstract

We have measured the spin-forbidden decay rate from (3s3d)$^{1}$D$_{2}$ $\to$ (3s3p)$^{3}$P$_{2,1}$ in $^{24}$Mg atoms trapped in a magneto-optical trap. The total decay rate, summing up both exit channels (3s3p)$^{3}$P$_{1}$ and (3s3p)$^{3}$P$_{2}$, yields (196 $\pm$ 10) s$^{-1}$ in excellent agreement with resent relativistic many-body calculations of [S.G. Porsev et al., Phys. Rev. A. \textbf{64}, 012508 (2001)]. The characterization of this decay channel is important as it may limit the performance of quantum optics experiments carried out with this ladder system as well as two-photon cooling experiments currently explored in several groups.

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K. T. Therkildsen, B. B. Jensen, C. P. Ryder, N. Malossi, J. W. Thomsen. 2009-02-20. Measurement of the Spin-forbidden Decay rate (3s3d)$^{1}$D$_{2}$ $\to$ (3s3p)$^{3}$P$_{2,1}$ in $^{24}$Mg. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.79.034501

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