Christian G. Parthey

Improved Measurement of the Hydrogen 1S - 2S Transition Frequency

We have measured the 1S-2S transition frequency in atomic hydrogen via two-photon spectroscopy on a 5.8 K atomic beam. We obtain f(1S-2S) = 2,466,061,413,187,035 (10)  Hz for the hyperfine centroid, in agreement with, but 3.3 times better than the previous result [M. Fischer et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 230802 (2004)]. The improvement to a fractional frequency uncertainty of 4.2 × 10(-15) arises mainly from an improved stability of the spectroscopy laser, and a better determination of the main systematic uncertainties, namely, the second order Doppler and ac and dc Stark shifts. The probe laser frequency was phase coherently linked to the mobile cesium fountain clock FOM via a frequency comb.

Stopping Supersonic Beams with a Series of Pulsed Electromagnetic Coils : An Atomic Coilgun

We report the stopping of an atomic beam, using a series of pulsed electromagnetic coils. We use a supersonic beam of metastable neon created in a gas discharge as a monochromatic source of paramagnetic atoms. A series of coils is fired in a timed sequence to bring the atoms to near rest, where they are detected on a microchannel plate. Applications to fundamental problems in physics and chemistry are discussed.

An atomic coilgun: using pulsed magnetic fields to slow a supersonic beam

We report the experimental demonstration of a novel method to slow atoms and molecules with permanent magnetic moments using pulsed magnetic fields. In our experiments, we observe the slowing of a supersonic beam of metastable neon from 461.0 ± 7.7 to 403 ± 16 m s−1 in 18 stages, where the slowed peak is clearly separated from the initial distribution. This method has broad applications as it may easily be generalized, using seeding and entrainment into supersonic beams, to all paramagnetic atoms and molecules.

Precision Spectroscopy of Atomic Hydrogen

Precise determinations of transition frequencies of simple atomic systems are required for a number of fundamental applications such as tests of quantum electrodynamics (QED), the determination of fundamental constants and nuclear charge radii. The sharpest transition in atomic hydrogen occurs between the metastable 2S state and the 1S ground state. Its transition frequency has now been measured with almost 15 digits accuracy using an optical frequency comb and a cesium atomic clock as a reference [1]. A recent measurement of the 2S ? 2P3/2 transition frequency in muonic hydrogen is in significant contradiction to the hydrogen data if QED calculations are assumed to be correct [2, 3]. We hope to contribute to this so-called proton size puzzle by providing additional experimental input from hydrogen spectroscopy.

Towards magnetic slowing of atoms and molecules

We outline a method to slow paramagnetic atoms or molecules using pulsed magnetic fields. We also discuss the possibility of adiabatically slow trapped particles by decelerating a moving magnetic trap. We present numerical simulation results for the slowing and trapping of molecular oxygen.

Measurement of the 2S hyperfine interval in atomic hydrogen.

An optical measurement of the 2S hyperfine interval in atomic hydrogen using two-photon spectroscopy of the 1S-2S transition gives a value of 177 556 834.3(6.7) Hz. The uncertainty is 2.4 times smaller than achieved by our group in 2003 and more than 4 times smaller than for any independent radio-frequency measurement. The specific combination of the 2S and 1S hyperfine intervals predicted by QED theory 8fHFS(2S)-fHFS(1S)=48 953(3) Hz is in good agreement with the value of 48 923(54) Hz obtained from this experiment.

Low phase noise diode laser oscillator for 1S–2S spectroscopy in atomic hydrogen

We report on a low-noise diode laser oscillator at 972 nm actively stabilized to an ultra-stable vibrationallyand thermally compensated reference cavity. To increase the fraction of laser power in the carrier we designed a 20 cm long external cavity diode laser with an intra-cavity electro-optical modulator. The fractional power in the carrier reaches 99.9% which corresponds to a rms phase noise of φ2rms = 1mrad 2 in 10MHz bandwidth. Using this oscillator we recorded 1S – 2S spectra in atomic hydrogen and have not observed any significant loss of the excitation efficiency due to phase noise multiplication in the three consecutive 2-photon processes. c

Highly stable remote clock comparisons via 920 km optical fiber for precision spectroscopy of atomic hydrogen

We reference high-precision spectroscopy on atomic hydrogen measured with an uncertainty of 4×10-15 to a remote Cs-fountain clock using a 920 km actively noise-compensated fiber link.

Precision spectroscopy on atomic hydrogen

We present a measurement of the 1S-2S transition frequency in atomic hydrogen by two-photon spectroscopy yielding f1S-2S = 2 466 061 413 187 035 (10) Hz corresponding to a fractional frequency uncertainty of 4.2×10-15. The result presents a more than three times improvement on the previous best measurement.

Measurement of the2SHyperfine Interval in Atomic Hydrogen

An optical measurement of the 2S hyperfine interval in atomic hydrogen using two-photon spectroscopy of the 1S-2S transition gives a value of 177 556 834.3(6.7) Hz. The uncertainty is 2.4 times smaller than achieved by our group in 2003 and more than 4 times smaller than for any independent radio-frequency measurement. The specific combination of the 2S and 1S hyperfine intervals predicted by QED theory 8fHFS(2S)-fHFS(1S)=48 953(3) Hz is in good agreement with the value of 48 923(54) Hz obtained from this experiment.