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Laser-trapping of Ra-225 and Ra-226 with repumping by room temperature blackbody radiation

J. R. Guest·N. D. Scielzo·I. Ahmad·K. Bailey·J. P. Greene·R. J. Holt·Z. -T. Lu·T. P. O'Connor·D. H. Potterveld
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Abstract

We have demonstrated Zeeman slowing and capture of neutral Ra-225 and Ra-226 atoms in a magneto-optical trap (MOT). The intercombination transition 1S0-3P1 is the only quasi-cycling transition in radium and was used for laser-cooling and trapping. Repumping along the 3D1-1P1 transition extended the lifetime of the trap from milliseconds to seconds. Room-temperature blackbody radiation was demonstrated to provide repumping from the metastable 3P0 level. We measured the isotope shift and hyperfine splittings on the 3D1-1P1 transition with the laser-cooled atoms, and set a limit on the lifetime of the 3D1 level based on the measured blackbody repumping rate. Laser-cooled and trapped radium is an attractive system for studying fundamental symmetries.

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J. R. Guest, N. D. Scielzo, I. Ahmad, K. Bailey, J. P. Greene, R. J. Holt, Z. -T. Lu, T. P. O'Connor, D. H. Potterveld. 2007-03-03. Laser-trapping of Ra-225 and Ra-226 with repumping by room temperature blackbody radiation. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.98.093001

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