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arXiv · 2107.03657

Optical Excitation and Trapping of $^{81}$Kr

Jie. S. Wang·F. Ritterbusch·X. -Z. Dong·C. Gao·H. Li·W. Jiang·S. -Y. Liu·Z. -T. Lu·W. -H. Wang·G. -M. Yang·Y. -S. Zhang·Z. -Y. Zhang
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Abstract

We have realized optical excitation, trapping and detection of the radioisotope $^{81}$Kr with an isotopic abundance of 0.9 ppt. The 124 nm light needed for the production of metastable atoms is generated by a resonant discharge lamp. Photon transport through the optically thick krypton gas inside the lamp is simulated and optimized to enhance both brightness and resonance. We achieve a state-of-the-art $^{81}$Kr loading rate of 1800 atoms/h, which can be further scaled up by adding more lamps. The all-optical approach overcomes the limitations on precision and sample size of radiokrypton dating, enabling new applications in the earth sciences, particularly for dating of polar ice cores.

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Jie. S. Wang, F. Ritterbusch, X. -Z. Dong, C. Gao, H. Li, W. Jiang, S. -Y. Liu, Z. -T. Lu, W. -H. Wang, G. -M. Yang, Y. -S. Zhang, Z. -Y. Zhang. 2021-07-08. Optical Excitation and Trapping of $^{81}$Kr. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.127.023201

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