Laser-induced electronic bridge for characterization of the229mTh → 229gTh nuclear transition with a tunable optical laser

2017/09/13 by Pavlo V. Bilous, Pavlo V Bilous, Ekkehard Peik +1 · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Frequency and Time Standards #Atomic and Molecular Physics #Atomic electron transition #Bridge (graph theory) #Excitation #Excited state #Laser #Molecular electronic transition #Nuclear physics research studies #Radiative transfer #Resonance (particle physics) #nucl-th #physics.atom-ph

paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/1367-2630/aa9cd9

published as New J. Phys. 20 013016 (2018) · 11 pages, 3 figures, 4 tables

arxiv created 2017/09/13 · openalex created_date 2017/09/25 · openalex publication_date 2017/11/27 · arxiv updated 2018/03/13 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06

Abstract

An alternative method to determine the excitation energy of the 229m Th isomer via the laser-induced electronic bridge is investigated theoretically. In the presence of an optical or ultra-violet laser at energies that fulfill a two-photon resonance condition, the excited nuclear state can decay by transfering its energy to the electronic shell. A bound electron is then promoted to an excited state by absorption of a laser photon and simultaneous de-excitation of the nucleus. We present calculated rates for the laser-induced electronic bridge process and discuss the experimental requirements for the corresponding setup. Our results show that depending on the actual value of the nuclear transition energy, the rate can be very high, with an enhancement factor compared to the radiative nuclear decay of up to 10 8 .

Citations

• Experimental search for the low-energy nuclear transition in229Th with undulator radiation
• Energy Splitting of the Ground-State Doublet in the NucleusTh<mml:mprescripts/><mml:none/>229
• Nuclear laser spectroscopy of the 3.5 eV transition in Th-229
• Nuclear structure of 229Th
• Single-Ion Nuclear Clock for Metrology at the 19th Decimal Place
• Radiative lifetime and energy of the low-energy isomeric level inTh<mml:mprescripts/><mml:none/>229
• Direct detection of the 229Th nuclear clock transition
• Lifetime measurement of the ²²⁹Th nuclear isomer
• Reduced transition probabilities for the gamma decay of the 7.8 eV isomer in ²²⁹Th
• Effect of atomic electrons on the7.6-eV nuclear transition inTh<mml:mprescripts/><mml:none/>2293+
• Results of a Direct Search Using Synchrotron Radiation for the Low-EnergyTh<mml:mprescripts/><mml:none/>229Nuclear Isomeric Transition

Cited by

• Expanding Nuclear Physics Horizons with the Gamma Factory
• The ²²⁹Th isomer: prospects for a nuclear optical clock