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Optical frequency measurement of the 1S–3S two-photon transition in hydrogen

  • Atomic Physics
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Abstract

This article reports the first optical frequency measurement of the 1S–3S transition in hydrogen. The excitation of this transition occurs at a wavelength of 205 nm which is obtained with two frequency doubling stages of a titanium sapphire laser at 820 nm. Its frequency is measured with an optical frequency comb. The second-order Doppler effect is evaluated from the observation of the motional Stark effect due to a transverse magnetic field perpendicular to the atomic beam. The measured value of the \(1\mathrm{S}_{1/2}\)(F = 1)-3S1/2(F = 1) frequency splitting is 2 922 742 936.729(13) MHz with a relative uncertainty of 4.5 × 10-12. After the measurement of the 1S–2S frequency, this result is the most precise of the optical frequencies in hydrogen.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, École Normale Supérieure, CNRS, Université P. et M. Curie - Paris 6, Case 74, 4 place Jussieu, 75252, Paris Cedex 05, France

    O. Arnoult, F. Nez, L. Julien & F. Biraben

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  1. O. Arnoult
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  2. F. Nez
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  3. L. Julien
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  4. F. Biraben
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Correspondence to F. Biraben.

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Arnoult, O., Nez, F., Julien, L. et al. Optical frequency measurement of the 1S–3S two-photon transition in hydrogen. Eur. Phys. J. D 60, 243–256 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2010-00249-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2010-00249-6

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