Optical Excitation and Trapping of ${}^{81}$Kr

Abstract

We have realized optical excitation, trapping and detection of the radioisotope ${}^{81}$Kr with an isotopic abundance of 0.9 ppt. The 124 nm light needed for the production of metastable atoms is generated by a resonant discharge lamp. Photon transport through the optically thick krypton gas inside the lamp is simulated and optimized to enhance both brightness and resonance. We achieve a state-of-the-art ${}^{81}$Kr loading rate of 1800 atoms/h, which can be further scaled up by adding more lamps. The all-optical approach overcomes the limitations on precision and sample size of radiokrypton dating, enabling new applications in the earth sciences, particularly for dating of polar ice cores.

References in corpus (9)

• Double-slit photoelectron interference in strong-field ionization of the neon dimer
• First observation of two-neutrino double electron capture in ${}^{124}$Xe with XENON1T
• ${}^{81}$Kr dating at the Guliya ice cap, Tibetan Plateau
• Krypton assay in xenon at the ppq level using a gas chromatographic system and mass spectrometer
• Laser-based metastable krypton generation
• A Thermal Beam of Metastable Krypton Atoms Produced by Optical Excitation
• A novel vacuum ultra violet lamp for metastable rare gas experiments
• All-optical production and trapping of metastable noble gas atoms down to the single atom regime
• Enhancement of the ${}^{81}\mathrm{Kr}$ and ${}^{85}\mathrm{Kr}$ count rates by optical pumping

Cited by in corpus (3)

• A New Clock Transition with the Highest Sensitivity to $\alpha$ Variation and Simultaneous Magic Trapping Conditions with Other Clock Transitions in Yb
• Optically enhanced discharge excitation and trapping of ${}^{39}Ar$
• A VUV light source for enhanced production of metastable krypton and xenon beams