Measurement of hyperfine splittings and isotope shifts in the $8p$ excited states of ${}^{205}$Tl and ${}^{203}$Tl using two-step laser spectroscopy

Abstract

A two-step, two-color laser spectroscopy technique has been used to measure the hyperfine splittings of the $8p$ excited states in ${}^{203}$Tl and ${}^{205}$Tl, as well as the $7s-8p$ transition isotope shifts. For the case of the $8p_{3/2}$ state, our results show a hyperfine anomaly consistent with our recent measurements of other hyperfine splittings, and in disagreement with older results for this state. Our measurement of the $8p_{1/2}$ isotope shift is also in disagreement with earlier work. In this series of experiments, a UV laser was locked to the first-step transition and directed through a heated vapor cell, while a second spatially overlapping red laser was scanned across the two second-step transitions. To facilitate accurate frequency calibration, radio-frequency modulation of the second-step laser was used to create sidebands in the Doppler-free absorption spectrum.

arXiv commentarXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1310.7216