Laser-atomic-beam spectroscopy of 4f 75d6s?4f 75d6p transitions in Eu I

The hyperfine structure and the isotope shift of transitions between metastable levels of the configuration 4f ⁷5d6s and levels of the configuration 4f ⁷5d6p of¹⁵¹Eu and¹⁵³Eu were studied by means of the high resolution laser-atomic-beam technique. The metastable states were populated by an arc discharge burning in the atomic beam. The measured hyperfine constantsA andB of the 4f ⁷5d6s configuration allow to perform a parametric analysis using the effective tensor operator formalism. For the first time the nuclear quadrupole moments are deduced from the quadrupole interaction parameters of the 5d electron in Eu I. The values uncorrected for the Sternheimer effect are¹⁵¹ Q(5d)=1.53(5)b and¹⁵³ Q(5d)=3.92(12)b. A comparison with the quadrupole moments derived from the 6p electron and the intrinsic quadrupole moment of¹⁵³Eu gives information about Sternheimer's correction factors. The value found for the hyperfine anomaly due tos electrons in the 4f ⁷5d6s configuration agrees very well with previous results in other Eu configurations. The change in the mean-square nuclear charge radius is derived from the isotope shift measurements and compared with the results obtained from other optical transitions in Eu. The mean value isgd〈r ²〉^{151, 153} =0.577(25) fm².