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Lifetime measurement of the ^3P_2 metastable state of strontium atoms

Masami Yasuda·Hidetoshi Katori
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Abstract

We have measured the lifetime of the 5s5p ^3P_2 metastable state of strontium atoms by magneto-optically trapping the decayed atoms to the ground state, which allowed sensitive detection of the rare decay events. We found that the blackbody radiation-induced decay was the dominant decay channel for the state at T = 300 K. The lifetime was determined to be 500^{+280}_{-130} s in the limit of zero temperature.

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Masami Yasuda, Hidetoshi Katori. 2003-10-16. Lifetime measurement of the ^3P_2 metastable state of strontium atoms. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.92.153004

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