RADIO PHYSICS AND RADIO ASTRONOMY

Purpose: This work aims at investigating the zinc atoms in the triplet preionization – Rydberg states. The energy levels of atoms having two electrons outside the closed shell were studied mainly by the optical spectroscopy methods. However, just using the microwave spectroscopy to measure the frequency of transitions between the two Rydberg states allows to increase the accuracy of measurements in two or more orders of magnitude.

Disign/methodology/approach:A line of three dye lasers is used to excite the zinc atoms into the triplet Rydberg states with a predetermined set of quantum numbers. The radiation of the first two of them is transformed into the second harmonic in nonlinear crystals. Dye lasers are excited by the radiation of the second harmonic of one YAG: ND³⁺ laser. All three radiations are reduced to the zone of interaction with the laser and the microwave radiation, which is located between the plates of the ionization cell, where the pulsed electric field is created. The excited Rydberg atoms are recorded with the field ionization procedure. The beam of neutral atoms is created by an effusion cell under the vacuum conditions, the residual pressure does not exceed 10^-5 mm Hg. A pulsed electric field of some certain intensity results inionization of atoms excited by microwave radiation and in acceleration of electrons, which have appeared in the direction of the secondary electron multiplier, though being insufficient for ionization of atoms excited only by the laser radiation and which are initial for interaction with microwaves. By scanning the microwave radiation frequency with the given step and measuring the signal intensity of the secondary electron multiplier, the excitation spectrum of the atoms under study can be obtained.

Findings: Using the created laser-microwave spectrometer, the frequencies of the F→D, F→F and F→G  transitions between the triplet Rydberg states of zinc atoms were measured. From the analysis made of the transition frequencies, the quantum defect decomposition constants were obtained by the Ritz formula for the D, F, and G states of zinc atoms. Conclusions: The frequencies of the F→D, F→F and F→G  transitions between the triplet Rydberg states of zinc atoms were measured that allowed obtaining the quantum defect decomposition constants according to the Ritz formula for the D, F and G states of zinc atoms, that in turn had allowed to calculate the energy of these terms and the transition frequencies at least in two orders of magnitude more accurately as against the similar measurements made by the optical spectroscopy.

Key words: zinc atom, triplet states of atoms, Rydberg states, laser excitation, microwave radiation

Manuscript submitted  17.06.2021

Radio phys. radio astron. 2021, 26(3): 256-269

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