Completing the optical spectroscopy of the $6p_J$ manifold: the $5p_{3/2}\to 6p_{1/2}$ electric dipole forbidden transition in atomic rubidium

Abstract

We present the first evidence of excitation of the $5p_{3/2}\to 6p_{1/2}$ electric dipole-forbidden transition in atomic rubidium. The experiments were carried out in a rubidium vapor cell using Doppler-free optical-optical double-resonance spectroscopy with counter-propagating beams. This a similar scheme to the excitation of the other fine transition $J=3/2$ in the $6p_J$ manifold previously reported. A $5s_{1/2}\to 5p_{3/2}$ electric dipole preparation step using a diode laser locked to the maximum F cyclic transition of the $D_2$ line is used to prepare the atoms in the first excited state. This is followed by the $5p_{3/2}\to 6p_{1/2}$ dipole-forbidden excitation, in a two-photon ladder ($\Xi$) excitation scheme. Production of atoms in the $6p_{1/2}$ excited state is verified by detection of the $421$ nm fluorescence that results from direct decay into the $5s_{1/2}$ ground state. The polarization dependence of the relative intensities of the lines of the decay fluorescence is also investigated. Experimental data for different polarization configurations of the light beams are compared with the results of calculations that consider a strong atom-field coupling in the preparation step, followed by a weak electric quadrupole excitation and the blue fluorescence decay emission. Good agreement between experiment and this three-step model is found in the case of linear-linear polarizations in both isotopes.

arXiv comment11 Pages, 5 figures

References in corpus (10)

• Optical atomic coherence at the one-second time scale
• Frequency metrology in quantum degenerate helium: Direct measurement of the 2 3S1 - 2 1S0 transition
• Lasing in the superradiant crossover regime
• Frequency Light Shifts Caused by the Effects of Quantization of Atomic Motion in an Optical Lattice
• Single-photon interference due to motion in an atomic collective excitation
• Doppler-free approach to optical pumping dynamics in the $6S_{1/2}-5D_{5/2}$ electric quadrupole transition of Cesium vapor
• Optical lattice clocks with weakly bound molecules
• Forbidden Transitions in a Magneto-Optical Trap
• Study of the 5p3/2 -> 6p3/2 electric dipole forbidden transition in atomic rubidium using optical-optical double resonance spectroscopy
• Upper Limit on the Magnetic Dipole Contribution to the 5p-8p Transition in Rb by Use of Ultracold Atom Spectroscopy

Cited by in corpus (2)

• Hyperfine measurement of $6{\text{P}}_{1/2}$ state in ${}^{87}\text{Rb}$ using double resonance on blue and IR transition
• Resolving closely spaced levels for Doppler mismatched double resonance