Highly charged ions for atomic clocks and search for variation of the fine structure constant

Abstract

We review a number of highly charged ions which have optical transitions suitable for building extremely accurate atomic clocks. This includes ions from Hf${}^{12+}$ to U${}^{34+}$, which have the $4f^{12}$ configuration of valence electrons, the Ir${}^{17+}$ ion, which has a hole in almost filled $4f$ subshell, the Ho${}^{14+}$, Cf${}^{15+}$, Es${}^{17+}$ and Es${}^{16+}$ ions. Clock transitions in most of these ions are sensitive to variation of the fine structure constant, $\alpha$ ($\alpha =e^2/\hslash c$). E.g., californium and einsteinium ions have largest known sensitivity to $\alpha$-variation while holmium ion looks as the most suitable ion for experimental study. We study the spectra of the ions and their features relevant to the use as frequency standards.

arXiv comment5 pages, 4 figures, based on talk presented at TCP2014 conference, Takamatsu, Japan, 4 Dec. 2014

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