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arXiv · 2412.00362

Precise Determination of Excited State Rotational Constants and Black-Body Thermometry in Coulomb Crystals of Ca$^+$ and CaH$^+$

Swapnil Patel·Kenneth R. Brown
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Abstract

We present high-resolution rovibronic spectroscopy of calcium monohydride molecular ions (CaH$^+$) co-trapped in a Coulomb crystal with calcium ions ($^{40}$Ca$^+$), focusing on rotational transitions in the $|X^1\Sigma^+, \nu" = 0> \rightarrow |A^1\Sigma^+, \nu' = 2>$ manifold. By resolving individual P and R branch transitions with record precision and using Fortrat analysis, we extract key spectroscopic constants for the excited state $|A^1\Sigma^+, \nu' = 2>$, specifically, the band origin, the rotational constant, and the centrifugal correction. Additionally, we demonstrate the application of high-resolution rotational spectroscopy of CaH$^+$ presented here as an in-situ probe of local environmental temperature. We correlate the relative amplitudes of the observed transitions to the underlying thermalized ground-state rotational population distribution and extract the black-body radiation (BBR) temperature.

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Swapnil Patel, Kenneth R. Brown. 2024-11-30. Precise Determination of Excited State Rotational Constants and Black-Body Thermometry in Coulomb Crystals of Ca$^+$ and CaH$^+$. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpca.5c00229

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