Precise measurement of hyperfine structure in the52P1/2 state of Rb

We have measured hyperfine structure in the 5 ²P_1/2 state of Rb using a frequency-stabilized diode laser, which is locked to one hyperfine transition, and an acousto-optic modulator, whose frequency is locked to the interval of interest. We check for optical-pumping errors by repeating the measurement at different values of pump power in the saturated-absorption spectrometer. We obtain precise values of the hyperfine constant: A=120.645(5) MHz for ⁸⁵Rb and A=406.119(7) MHz for ⁸⁷Rb. The values resolve a large discrepancy between two earlier high-accuracy measurements on this state.