Fundamental symmetries studies with cold trapped francium atoms at ISAC

Francium combines a heavy nucleus (Z = 87) with the simple atomic structure of alkalis and is a very promising candidate for precision tests of fundamental symmetries such as atomic parity non-conservation measurements. Fr has no stable isotopes, and the ISAC radioactive beam facility at TRIUMF, equipped with an actinide target, promises to provide record quantities of Fr atoms, up to 10¹⁰/s for some isotopes. We discuss our plans for a Fr on-line laser trapping facility at ISAC and experiments with samples of cold Fr atoms. We outline our plans for a measurement of the nuclear anapole moment – a parity non-conserving, time-reversal conserving moment that arises from weak interactions between nucleons – in a chain of Fr isotopes. Its measurement is a unique probe for neutral weak interactions inside the nucleus.      

Experimental attempts to measure non-collinear local magnetisation

Representing atomic magnetic moments as simple vectors has limitations when applied to systems in which orbital moments, or significant spin-orbit coupling is present. These phenomena are associated with interactions leading to non-collinearity in the magnetisation distribution. Several experimental techniques are available to probe such non-collinearity. The most direct is to measure both the magnitude and direction of the magnetic interaction vectors, which give its Fourier components. Such measurements are now becoming possible for antiferromagnets with the advent of a new generation of neutron polarimeters, which will allow both greater geometric flexibility and higher precision. However, up to now non-collinear magnetisation distributions have been revealed by more indirect means. Polarised neutron flipping ratio measurements can give only a single component of the magnetic interaction vector directly. However, the special geometric properties of the interaction vector and the symmetry breaking properties of an applied field can be exploited to obtain evidence of non-collinearity in the magnetisation distribution even from such limited data.     

Laser traps for radioactive isotopes

The techniques of laser cooling and trapping now make it possible to observe large samples of stable atoms in a small volume at low temperature. This capability was recently extended to radioactive isotopes. This opens up new opportunities for the investigation of fundamental symmetries through measurements using radioactive atoms. In this paper we will discuss several fundamental measurements in atomic systems and how the ability to trap radioactive atoms will play an important role in improving the precision of such measurements. Measurements of the effects of the weak interaction are of particular note since they are becoming quite precise. In particular, we will describe in detail the system developed at Stony Brook to trap radioactive alkali atoms and measure weak interaction effects in francium isotopes.     

Francium sources and traps for fundamental interaction studies

Francium is one of the best candidates for atomic parity nonconservation (APNC) and for the search of permanent electric dipole moments (EDMs). APNC measurements test the weak force between electrons and nucleons at very low momentum transfers. They also represent a unique way to detect weak nucleon-nucleon interactions. EDMs are instead related to the time-reversal symmetry. Preliminary to these fundamental measurements are precision studies in atomic spectroscopy and the development of magneto-optical traps (MOT), which partially compensate for the lack of stable Fr isotopes. At LNL Legnaro, francium is produced by fusion of 100-MeV ¹⁸O with ¹⁹⁷Au in a thick target, followed by evaporation of neutrons from the compound nucleus. Francium diffuses inside the hot target (1200 K) and is surface ionized for injection at 3 keV in an electrostatic beamline. Typically, we produce 1×10⁶ (²¹⁰Fr ions)/s for a primary flux of 1.5×10¹² particles/s. We have studied Fr yields as a function of primary beam energy, intensity, and target temperature. Information on the efficiency of bulk diffusion, surface desorption and ionization is deduced. The beam then enters a Dryfilm-coated cell, where it is neutralized on a heated yttrium plate. The escape time of neutral Fr (diffusion + desorption) is approximately 20 s at 950 K, as measured with a dedicated setup. In the MOT, we use 6 orthogonal Ti:sapphire laser beams for the main pumping transition and 6 beams from a stabilized diode repumper. Fluorescence from trapped atoms is observed with a cooled CCD camera, in order to reach noise levels from stray light equivalent to approximately 50 atoms. Systematic tests are being done to improve the trapping efficiency. We plan to further develop Fr traps at LNL; in parallel, we will study APNC and EDM techniques and systematics with stable alkalis at Pisa, Siena, and Ferrara.     

Hyperfine anomaly measurements in francium isotopes and the radial distribution of neutrons

We have performed precision measurements in a magneto-optical trap of the 7P_1/2 hyperfine structure of the isotopes ^209-210Fr. The ratio of these hyperfine constants to the previously measured 7S_1/2 ground state values reveals a significant hyperfine anomaly. This anomaly results from the different radial dependence of the electron density in the two atomic levels. The measurements are sensitive to changes in the radial distribution of the neutron magnetism. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Rydberg hydrogen atom in the presence of uniform magnetic and quadrupolar electric fields

Laser cooling and trapping offers the possibility of confining a sample of radioactive atoms in free space. Here, we address the question of how best to take advantage of cold atom properties to perform the observation of as highly forbidden a line as the 6S-7S Cs transition for achieving, in the longer term, atomic parity violation (APV) measurements in radioactive alkali isotopes. Another point at issue is whether one might do better with stable, cold atoms than with thermal atoms. To compensate for the large drawback of the small number of atoms available in a trap, one must take advantage of their low velocity. To lengthen the time of interaction with the excitation laser, we suggest choosing a geometry where the laser beam exciting the transition is colinear to a slow, cold atomic beam, either extracted from a trap or prepared by Zeeman slowing. We also suggest a new observable physical quantity manifesting APV, which presents several advantages: specificity, efficiency of detection, possibility of direct calibration by a parity conserving quantity of a similar nature. It is well adapted to a configuration where the cold atomic beam passes through two regions of transverse, crossed electric fields, leading both to differential measurements and to strong reduction of the contributions from the M₁-Stark interference signals, potential sources of systematics in APV measurements. Our evaluation of signal-to-noise ratios shows that with available techniques, measurements of transition amplitudes, important as required tests of atomic theory, should be possible in ¹³³Cs with a statistical precision of 10^-3 and probably also in Fr isotopes for production rates of Fr atoms s^-1. For APV measurements to become realistic, some practical realization of the collimation of the atomic beam as well as multiple passages of the excitation beam matching the atomic beam looks essential.Received: 5 March 2003, Published online: 17 July 2003PACS: 32.80.Ys Weak-interaction effects in atoms - 32.70.Cs Oscillator strengths, lifetimes, transition moments - 32.80.Pj Optical cooling of atoms; trapping - 39.90.+d Other instrumentation and techniques for atomic and molecular physicsS. Sanguinetti: Also at E. Fermi Physics Dept., Pisa Univ., Pisa, Italy.     

Molecular flow and wall collision age distributions

The use of storage cells has become a standard technique for internal gas targets in conjunction with high energy storage rings. In case of spin-polarized hydrogen and deuterium gas targets the interaction of the injected atoms with the walls of the storage cell can lead to depolarization and recombination. Thus the number of wall collisions of the atoms in the target gas is important for modeling the processes of spin relaxation and recombination. It is shown in this article that the diffusion process of rarefied gases in long tubes or storage cells can be described with the help of the one-dimensional diffusion equation. Mathematical methods are presented that allow one to calculate collision age distributions (CAD) and their moments analytically. These methods provide a better understanding of the different aspects of diffusion than Monte Carlo calculations. Additionally it is shown that measurements of the atomic density or polarization of a gas sample taken from the center of the tube allow one to determine the possible range of the corresponding density weighted average values along the tube. The calculations are applied to the storage cell geometry of the HERMES internal polarized hydrogen and deuterium gas target. Received 9 July 2001 and Received in final form 18 September 2001     

Bohr–Weisskopf effect: influence of the distributed nuclear magnetization on hfs

Nuclear magnetic moments provide a sensitive test of nuclear wave functions, in particular those of neutrons, which are not readily obtainable from other nuclear data. These are taking added importance by recent proposals to study parity non-conservation (PNC) effects in alkali atoms in isotopic series. By taking ratios of the PNC effects in pairs of isotopes, uncertainties in the atomic wave functions are largely cancelled out at the cost of knowledge of the change in the neutron wave function. The Bohr–Weisskopf effect (B–W) in the hyperfine structure interaction of atoms measures the influence of the spatial distribution of the nuclear magnetization, and thereby provides an additional constraint on the determination of the neutron wave function. The added great importance of B–W in the determination of QED effects from the hfs in hydrogen-like ions of heavy elements, as measured recently at GSI, is noted. The B–W experiments require precision measurements of the hfs interactions and, independently, of the nuclear magnetic moments. A novel atomic beam magnetic resonance (ABMR) method, combining rf and laser excitation, has been developed for a systematic study and initially applied to stable isotopes. Difficulties in adapting the experiment to the ISOLDE radioactive ion beam, which have now been surmounted, are discussed. A first radioactive beam measurement for this study, the precision hfs of ¹²⁶Cs, has been obtained recently. The result is 3629.515(∼0.001) MHz. The ability of ABMR to determine with high precision nuclear magnetic moments in free atoms is a desideratum for the extraction of QED effects from the hfs of the hydrogen-like ions. We also point out manifestations of B–W in condensed matter and atomic physics. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Isotopes through the looking glass

Nuclear distributions affect many aspects of atomic spectra. As an example, recent experimental results for the hyperfine anomaly in Fr isotopes are considered. These depend on nuclear charge and magnetization distributions. The variations in charge radii for these isotopes were studied earlier by measuring optical isotope shifts. The hyperfine anomalies for the odd-odd isotopes involve the neutron distributions, of interest for studies of parity nonconserving effects along a chain of isotopes. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Spectroscopy of francium in a magneto optical trap

The francium atom offers an excellent laboratory to study electron-nucleus interactions. As the heaviest alkali, its atomic properties can be calculated with high precision, and laser trapping methods now allow precision optical spectroscopy of many isotopes. Recent measurements of the 7P_1/2 hyperfine structure, when coupled with previous measurements of the ground state hyperfine structure reveal a hyperfine anomaly. The change in anomaly between an even-N isotope and an odd-N isotope is sensitive to the radial distribution of the neutron magnetization. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Extraction of hyperfine anomalies without precise values of the nuclear magnetic dipole moment

A new method for extracting the hyperfine anomaly from experimental hyperfine structure constants is suggested. Instead of independent high-precision measurements of the nuclear magnetic dipole moment, precise measurements of magnetic dipole hyperfine interaction constants for two atomic states and a theoretical analysis can be used. This can lead to determination of hyperfine anomaly for radioactive isotopes where the nuclear magnetic dipole moment is not known with high accuracy. Received: 17 February 1998     

Optical characterization and manipulation of alkali metal nanoparticles in porous silica

Rubidium and cesium metal nanoparticles were grown in nanoporous silica samples placed in alkali vapor cells. Their size and shape were investigated by measuring the sample optical transmittance. Spectral changes due to photodesorption processes activated by weak light were also analyzed. Alkali atoms photoejected from the silica walls diffuse through and out of the nanopores, modifying both the nanoparticle distribution in the silica matrix and the atomic vapor pressure in the cell volume. The number of rubidium and cesium atoms burst out of the samples was measured as a function of photon energy and fluence. The optical absorption measurements together with the analysis of the photodesorption yield give a complete picture of the processes triggered by light inside the nanopores. We show that atomic photodesorption, upon proper choice of light frequency and intensity, induces either growth or evaporation of nanosized alkali metal clusters. Cluster size and shape are determined by the host-guest interaction.     

Modulation and thermal stability of hydrogen in amorphous silicon

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon can be obtained by reactive evaporation of silicon under a flow of hydrogen atoms. By modulating the pressure of hydrogen, it is possible to prepare multilayers of type Si/Si:H/Si/Si:H/ … with thicknesses of bilayers less than 90 Å. Low-angle X-ray scattering shows diffraction peaks corresponding only to the modulation of atomic density, but low-angle neutron scattering permits to see the modulation of the isotopes hydrogen and deuterium. The thermal stability of the silicon atomic density modulation and of the hydrogen modulation is discussed.     

Thick skin in neutron/proton-rich sodium isotopes

Nucleon (both neutron and proton) density distributions of the chain of sodium isotopes are calculated using a semi-phenomenological model of nuclear density which incorporates correctly the asymptotic behaviour and the behaviour near the centre. The experimental charge root-mean-square radii and the single neutron and proton separation energies, required as input, are used. The calculated interaction cross-sections using these densities in the Glauber model agree well with the experiment. The calculated neutron rms radii r _n and the nuclear skin thickness ( r _n - r _p) closely agree with the corresponding experimental values and also are consistent with the Relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov (RHB) calculations. Received: 24 April 2001 / Accepted: 28 June 2001     

Challenge towards muonic atom formation with unstable nuclei

X-ray spectroscopy of muonic atoms is an important tool to obtain information on the nuclear charge distribution of nuclei. It has been successfully used for many years to study stable isotopes in condensed or gaseous states. A new method has been proposed to extend muonic atom X-ray spectroscopy to the use of radioactive isotope beams to form muonic atoms with unstable nuclei. This new method allows studies of the nuclear properties and nuclear sizes of unstable atoms by means of the muonic X-ray method at facilities where both negative muon and radioactive nuclear beams would be available. Progress of a feasibility study at RIKEN-RAL muon facility is also reported. Received: 1 May 2001 / Accepted: 4 December 2001     

Atomic beam splitter from a mixture of atoms in the Bragg regime

We investigate the interaction of a standing-wave light field with the beam of two-level atoms moving in the Bragg regime. The atomic beam consists of two different isotopes and the density is sufficiently small so that at most one atom is inside the cavity at any time. The experimental setup is such that both the isotopes have the same momenta. The momentum transfer between the atoms and photons in the process essentially effects the center-of-mass motion of the atoms, thus separating the isotopes in different directions after specific interaction times.     

Experimental study of vapor-cell magneto-optical traps for efficient trapping of radioactive atoms

We have studied magneto-optical traps (MOTs) for efficient on-line trapping of radioactive atoms. After discussing a model of the trapping process in a vapor cell and its efficiency, we present the results of detailed experimental studies on Rb MOTs. Three spherical cells of different sizes were used. These cells can be easily replaced, while keeping the rest of the apparatus unchanged: atomic sources, vacuum conditions, magnetic field gradients, sizes and power of the laser beams, detection system. By direct comparison, we find that the trapping efficiency only weakly depends on the MOT cell size. It is also found that the trapping efficiency of the MOT with the smallest cell, whose diameter is equal to the diameter of the trapping beams, is about 40% smaller than the efficiency of larger cells. Furthermore, we also demonstrate the importance of two factors: a long coated tube at the entrance of the MOT cell, used instead of a diaphragm; and the passivation with an alkali vapor of the coating on the cell walls, in order to minimize the losses of trappable atoms. These results guided us in the construction of an efficient large-diameter cell, which has been successfully employed for on-line trapping of Fr isotopes at INFN’s national laboratories in Legnaro, Italy.     

Diffusion in a surface: the atomic slide puzzle

We review measurements performed using scanning tunneling microscopy of the motion of impurity atoms in the Cu (001) surface. Like several other elements, the impurity that we have introduced, In, tends to embed itself in the first atomic layer of this surface. Via the motion of the embedded In atoms, we obtain direct information on the motion of the Cu atoms in the surface. In other words, we employ the In atoms as tracer particles to investigate the intrinsic motion in the first Cu layer. The peculiar statistics of the two-dimensional In diffusion allows us to conclude that the motion is assisted by a rapidly diffusing entity, which we identify as a surface vacancy, i.e. a single missing Cu atom in the outermost Cu layer. A comparison with model calculations of the statistics of the vacancy-assisted motion of terrace atoms shows that there must be an attractive interaction between an embedded In atom and a vacancy, which makes the In atom somewhat more mobile than a Cu surface atom. Such an attraction is indeed found in embedded-atom-method calculations. Nevertheless, the temperature dependence of the indium motion provides an accurate estimation of the sum E_form+E_act, representing the sum of the formation energy of a vacancy and the activation energy for the motion of vacancies through a clean Cu (001) surface. Received: 30 April 2001 / Accepted: 23 July 2001 / Published online: 3 April 2002     

Measurement of the interaction cross-section and related topics

Recent experimental results concerning interaction cross-sections ( σ_I) are reviewed. The σ_I values were measured by a transmission method using the fragment separator at GSI. The σ_I values for B, C, N, O and F isotopes and the recently measured σ_I for Ar are presented. As related topics, an analysis by the recently developed Glauber model for a few-body system is introduced. By using this analysis, the effective density distributions for light neutron-rich nuclei can be deduced. The recently shown magic number N = 16 near to the neutron drip line is also discussed. Received: 1 May 2001 / Accepted: 4 December 2001     

Testing Bell inequalities in photonic crystals

We show how entangled atomic pairs can be prepared in order to test the Bell inequalities. The scheme is based on the interaction of the atoms with a highly localized field mode within a photonic crystal. The potential of using optically separated transitions and the stability of the entangled state to spontaneous emission could lead to the closure of the communication and the detection loopholes appearing in experiments so far. The robustness of the scheme against detector inefficiencies, the spread in the atomic velocities and the fact that the entangled pairs are not generated simultaneously is also studied. Received 31 July 2001 and Received in final form 30 November 2001