Erlangen 2022 – scientific programme

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K: Fachverband Kurzzeit- und angewandte Laserphysik

K 2: Poster

K 2.3: Poster

Tuesday, March 15, 2022, 16:30–18:30, P

Generation of VUV radiation from two-color laser setup for nuclear spectroscopic measurements on thorium — •Kuldeep Singh Karda, Philip Mosel, Pranitha Sankar, Elisa Appi, Uwe Morgner, and Milutin Kovacev — Institut für Quantenoptik, Cluster of Excellence PhoenixD and QuantumFrontiers, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Welfengarten 1, 30167 Hannover

The Thorium-229 nucleus is known to possess an isomeric state at an energy of about 8 eV above the ground state, several orders of magnitude lower than typical nuclear excitation energies [1]. Owing to the lower energy the 229Th isomer is accessible to resonant laser excitation. A main experimental challenge is to drive this nuclear excitation resonantly with a narrow-band laser [1]. However, exact knowledge of this energy level is crucial for laser spectroscopy and for the development of optical nuclear clocks. This problem could be overcome by using a tunable laser system in the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) spectral range. In the presented work, VUV radiation between 140 and 160 nm is efficiently generated by using two-color frequency mixing of different laser modes inside gas-filled capillary. This technique allows to enhance the conversion efficiency of a tunable Ti:Sapphire laser system in the VUV. The presented setup can fulfill the requirements of a narrow-band light source for direct laser excitation laser applying schemes like internal conversion electron-Mössbauer spectroscopy (CEMS) in thin layer of neutral 229Th atoms[2].
[1] K.Beeks et al., Nature. Rev. Phys. 3, 238-248 (2021).
[2] L. von der Wense et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 132503 (2017).