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Francois Biraben

Publications and source records attributed to Francois Biraben.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

1S-3S cw spectroscopy of hydrogen/deuterium atom

We study the 1S-3S two-photon transition of hydrogen in a thermal atomic beam, using a homemade cw laser source at 205 nm. The experimental method is described, leading in 2017 to the measurement of the 1S-3S transition frequency in hydrogen atom with a relative uncertainty of $9 \times 10^{-13}$. This result contributes to the "proton puzzle" resolution but is in disagreement with the ones of some others experiments. We have recently improved our setup with the aim of carrying out the same measurement in deuterium. With the improved detection system, we have observed a broadened fluorescence signal, superimposed on the narrow signal studied so far, and due to the stray accumulation of atoms in the vacuum chamber. The possible resulting systematic effect is discussed.

physics.atom-ph

Bloch oscillations of ultracold atoms: a tool for a metrological determination of $h/m_{Rb}$

We use Bloch oscillations in a horizontal moving standing wave to transfer a large number of photon recoils to atoms with a high efficiency (99.5% per cycle). By measuring the photon recoil of $^{87}Rb$, using velocity selective Raman transitions to select a subrecoil velocity class and to measure the final accelerated velocity class, we have determined $h/m_{Rb}$ with a relative precision of 0.4 ppm. To exploit the high momentum transfer efficiency of our method, we are developing a vertical standing wave set-up. This will allow us to measure $h/m_{Rb}$ better than $10^{-8}$ and hence the fine structure constant $α$ with an uncertainty close to the most accurate value coming from the ($g-2$) determination.

physics.atom-ph