Abstract
In this paper we report details of the apparatus and experimental techniques used to excite Rydberg states of 7Li using multiple diode lasers. Special attention is paid to frequency stabilization of the lasers and we show how three lasers can be stabilized using the fluorescence from a single atomic state. Laser spectroscopy of the 8p,9p, and 11p–15p states is then performed to determine the quantum defects of these states. Our measurement precision exceeds that of previous measurements of these defects by as much as a factor of 25. This work substantially extends our previous measurement of the 10p quantum defect, and we compare our measured defects with recent theoretical calculations for the np states across the range 8≤n≤15. The agreement with theory is excellent.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
T.F. Gallagher, Rydberg Atoms (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1994)
E. Arimondo, M. Inguscio, P. Violino, Rev. Mod. Phys. 49, 31 (1977)
M.L. Zimmerman, M.G. Littman, M.M. Kash, D. Kleppner, Phys. Rev. A 20, 2251 (1979)
R. Hergenroder, D. Veza, K. Niemax, Spectrochim. Acta 48B, 589 (1993)
C.-H. Iu, G.D. Stevens, H. Metcalf, Appl. Optics 34, 2640 (1995)
G.D. Stevens, C.-H. Iu, T. Bergeman, H.J. Metcalf, I. Seipp, K.T. Taylor, D. Delande, Phys. Rev. A 53, 1349 (1996)
B.A. Bushaw, W. Nörtershäuser, G.W.F. Drake, H.-J. Kluge, Phys. Rev. A 75, 052503 (2007)
P. Oxley, P. Collins, Phys. Rev. A 81, 024501 (2010)
R.W.P. Drever, J.L. Hall, F.V. Kowalski, J. Hough, G.M. Ford, A.J. Munley, H. Ward, Appl. Phys. B 31, 97 (1983)
W. Jitschin, Appl. Phys. B 33, 7 (1984)
H.R. Telle, Spectrochim. Acta Rev. 15, 301 (1993)
G. Bianchini, P. Cancio, F. Minardi, F.S. Pavone, F. Perrone, M. Prevedelli, M. Inguscio, Appl. Phys. B 66, 407 (1998)
K.L. Corwin, Z.-T. Lu, C.F. Hand, R.J. Epstein, C.E. Wieman, Appl. Optics 37, 3295 (1998)
C.P. Pearman, C.S. Adams, S.G. Cox, P.F. Griffin, D.A. Smith, I.G. Hughes, J. Phys. B 35, 5141 (2002)
G. Ritt, G. Cennini, C. Geckeler, M. Weitz, Appl. Phys. B 79, 363 (2004)
E.D. Van Ooijen, G. Katgert, P. Van der Straten, Appl. Phys. B 79, 57 (2004)
J.A. Kerckhoff, C.D. Bruzewicz, R. Uhl, P.K. Majumder, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 76, 093108 (2005)
R.W. France, Proc. R. Soc. Lond., Ser. A 129, 354 (1930)
M.K. Ballard, R.A. Bernheim, P. Bicchi, Can. J. Phys. 79, 991 (2001)
L.J. Radziemski, R. Engleman Jr., J.W. Brault, Phys. Rev. A 52, 4462 (1995)
M. Anwar-ul-Haq, S. Mahmood, M. Riaz, R. Ali, M.A. Baig, J. Phys. B 38, S77 (2005)
C. Chen, Commun. Theor. Phys. 50, 733 (2008)
R.M. Whitley, C.R. Stroud, Phys. Rev. A 14, 1498 (1976)
C. Cohen-Tannoudji, S. Reynaud, J. Phys. B 10, 2311 (1977)
C. Wei, D. Suter, A.S.M. Windsor, N.B. Manson, Phys. Rev. A 58, 2310 (1998)
C. Mavroyannis, Appl. Phys. B 73, 39 (2001)
K. Kapale, M.O. Scully, S.-Y. Zhu, M. Suhail Zubairy, Phys. Rev. A 76, 023804 (2003)
B.-Q. Ou, L.-M. Liang, C.-Z. Li, J. Phys. B 42, 205503 (2009)
H.R. Gray, R.M. Whitley, C.R. Stroud, Opt. Lett. 3, 218 (1978)
C.J. Sansonetti, B. Richou, R.E. Engleman, Phys. Rev. A 52, 2682 (1995)
R. Sánchez, R. Sánchez, M. Žáková, Z. Andjelkovic, B.A. Bushaw, K. Dasgupta, G. Ewald, C. Geppert, H.-J. Kluge, J. Krämer, M. Nothhelfer, D. Tiedemann, D.F.A. Winters, W. Nörtershäuser, New J. Phys. 11, 073016 (2009)
B.A. Bushaw, W. Nortershauser, G. Ewald, A. Dax, G.W.F. Drake, Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 043004 (2003)
I. Johansson, Ark. Fys. 15, 169 (1959)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Oxley, P., Collins, P. Frequency stabilization of multiple lasers and Rydberg atom spectroscopy. Appl. Phys. B 101, 23–31 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-010-4154-z
Received:
Revised:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-010-4154-z