Isotope shifts and hyperfine structure in the transitions in calcium II

The isotope shift and hyperfine structure in the three - transitions in Ca II have been studied by fast ion beam collinear laser spectroscopy for all stable Ca isotopes. The metastable 3d states were populated within the surface ionization source of a mass separator with a probability of about 0.1%. After resonant excitation to the 4p levels with diode laser light around 850 nm the uv photons from the transitions to the ground state were used for detection. Hyperfine structure parameters A and B for the odd isotope ⁴³Ca, as evaluated from the splittings observed, agree well with theoretical predictions from relativistic many-body perturbation theory. Field shift constants and specific mass shift constants were extracted from the measured isotope shifts and are discussed in comparison with expectation values from theory. Received: 19 September 1997 / Revised: 5 December 1997 / Accepted: 27 January 1998