Measurement of the hyperfine splitting of ¹³³Cs atoms in superfluid helium

Abstract

We have been developing a new nuclear laser spectroscopy method named “OROCHI” (Optical RI-atom Observation in Condensed Helium as Ion-catcher). OROCHI utilizes superfluid helium (He II) not only as an efficient stopping medium of highly energetic ions but also as a host matrix of in-situ atomic laser spectroscopy. Using these characteristic of He II, we produce atomic spin polarization and measure Zeeman and hyperfine structure (HFS) splitting using laser-RF (radio frequency) / MW (microwave) double resonance method. From the measured energy splittings, we can deduce nuclear spins and moments. So far, we have conducted a series of experiments using both stable (^85,87Rb, ¹³³Cs, ¹⁹⁷Au, ^107,109Ag) and unstable isotopes (^84,86Rb) to confirm the feasibility of OROCHI method, especially observing Zeeman resonance and determining nuclear spins. The measurement of HFS splitting of atoms introduced into He II is indispensable to clarify the nuclear properties by deducing nuclear moments as well as the study of nuclear spins. For this purpose, we perform a precision measurement of HFS of ¹³³Cs atoms immersed in He II using laser ablation technique. In this paper, we describe the result of the experiment.