Description
The study of the nuclear properties allows to deeply investigate the nuclear structure and the nucleon-nucleon interaction. Specifically, the nuclear electromagnetic moments give an indication of the charge and current distribution in the nucleus. Measurements of these properties can be obtained with laser spectroscopy, an experimental method which probes the hyperfine structure of atoms.
An effect that can influence fluorescence spectroscopy measurements is quantum interference. If not accounted for, it produces a systematic error in determining properties of nuclei. It is therefore important to take it into consideration.
This effect has been observed and investigated in Cd and Zn isotopes ([1,2]), furthermore illustrating the link between the observed spectrum shapes and the laser polarization angle. To study the polarization effect, we performed laser spectroscopy measurements and recorded fluorescence spectra of Sr isotopes with different polarization angles.
Measurements on different isotopes have in the past been performed without taking into account the interference effect. This is for example the case of Na ([3]) and Cs ([4]). While Na presents rather small splittings among the hfs transitions, the hfs of cesium presents large splittings, thus the interference effect is expected to be smaller. However, the extremely small reported uncertainty (≤ 2 kHz), may nevertheless require careful consideration. Also, Cs spectroscopy yielded a value for the nuclear magnetic octupole moment, which is larger than can be accounted for by nuclear theory. It is therefore important to investigate the accuracy of those measurements carefully.
Motivated by the scientific cases listed above, we designed an atomic beam unit, which I report on here, alongside recent laser spectroscopy measurements on Sr an Na. The aim of these measurements is to benchmark the interference effect in sodium and to calculate the effect that we would expect in cesium.
[1]Hofsäss, PRR5.013043
[2]Röser, arxiv.2309.03669
[3]Gangrsky, EPJA3.313-318
[4]Gerginov, PRL97.7
