Abstract
We have used an optical frequency comb referenced to coordinated universal time (UTC) to perform spectroscopic measurements of the D1 transition in laser-cooled 85Rb and 87Rb. Our measurements of the optical frequencies have uncertainties of 28 kHz for 85Rb and 79 kHz for 87Rb. These measurements were used to calculate the magnetic dipole constant A(2P1/2) for 85Rb and 87Rb with similar ranges of uncertainty. Previously, A(2P1/2) for these isotopes was determined with a stated 7–15 kHz uncertainty level; however, there is a large discrepancy, 140 kHz for 85Rb and 2.2 MHz for 87Rb, between the two apparently most precise measurements. Our transition frequency measurements, which avoid saturated absorption spectroscopy and transfer resonator systematics, help resolve this disagreement. © 2008 The American Physical Society
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | online - approx 5-20pp |
Journal | Physical Review A |
Volume | 77 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2008 |