An advanced undergraduate experiment to study the electric quadrupole transition in rubidium atoms is presented. The experiment uses two external cavity diode lasers, one operating at the D2 rubidium resonance line and the other built with commercial parts to emit at 911 nm. The lasers produce the excitation sequence in which the second step is the forbidden transition. Production of atoms in the state is observed by detection of the 420 nm fluorescence that results from electric dipole decay into the ground state. Lines whose widths are significantly narrower than the Doppler width are used to study the hyperfine structure of the state in rubidium. The spectra illustrate characteristics unique to electric dipole forbidden transitions, like the electric quadrupole selection rules; they are also used to show general aspects of two-color laser spectroscopy such as velocity selection and hyperfine pumping.
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January 2018
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January 01 2018
One step beyond the electric dipole approximation: An experiment to observe the 5p → 6p forbidden transition in atomic rubidium
F. Ponciano-Ojeda;
F. Ponciano-Ojeda
Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, UNAM, Ciudad Universitaria
, 04510 Ciudad de México, Mexico
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S. Hernández-Gómez;
S. Hernández-Gómez
Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, UNAM, Ciudad Universitaria
, 04510 Ciudad de México, Mexico
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C. Mojica-Casique;
C. Mojica-Casique
Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, UNAM, Ciudad Universitaria
, 04510 Ciudad de México, Mexico
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E. Ruiz-Martínez;
E. Ruiz-Martínez
Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, UNAM, Ciudad Universitaria
, 04510 Ciudad de México, Mexico
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O. López-Hernández;
O. López-Hernández
Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, UNAM, Ciudad Universitaria
, 04510 Ciudad de México, Mexico
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R. Colín-Rodríguez;
R. Colín-Rodríguez
Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, UNAM, Ciudad Universitaria
, 04510 Ciudad de México, Mexico
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F. Ramírez-Martínez;
F. Ramírez-Martínez
a)
Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, UNAM, Ciudad Universitaria
, 04510 Ciudad de México, Mexico
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J. Flores-Mijangos;
J. Flores-Mijangos
Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, UNAM, Ciudad Universitaria
, 04510 Ciudad de México, Mexico
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D. Sahagún;
D. Sahagún
Instituto de Física, UNAM, Ciudad Universitaria
, 04510 Ciudad de México, Mexico
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R. Jáuregui;
R. Jáuregui
Instituto de Física, UNAM, Ciudad Universitaria
, 04510 Ciudad de México, Mexico
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J. Jiménez-Mier
J. Jiménez-Mier
b)
Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, UNAM, Ciudad Universitaria
, 04510 Ciudad de México, Mexico
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a)
Electronic mail: ferama@nucleares.unam.mx
b)
Electronic mail: jimenez@nucleares.unam.mx
Am. J. Phys. 86, 7–13 (2018)
Article history
Received:
November 10 2016
Accepted:
September 25 2017
Citation
F. Ponciano-Ojeda, S. Hernández-Gómez, C. Mojica-Casique, E. Ruiz-Martínez, O. López-Hernández, R. Colín-Rodríguez, F. Ramírez-Martínez, J. Flores-Mijangos, D. Sahagún, R. Jáuregui, J. Jiménez-Mier; One step beyond the electric dipole approximation: An experiment to observe the 5p → 6p forbidden transition in atomic rubidium. Am. J. Phys. 1 January 2018; 86 (1): 7–13. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.5006775
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