The Linewidth and Hyperfine A Constant of the 2P1/2 State of a Magnesium Ion Confined in a Linear Paul Trap

Abstract

We present and discuss results from a measurement of the hyperfine a constant of the 1s^(2)2s^(2)2p^(6)3p^(2)2P1/2 excited state in 25Mg+ and the linewidth of the same state in 24Mg+. We trapped a single ion in a linear Paul trap and laser-cooled it using the 2S1/2 -> 2P3/2 transition (in the case of 25Mg+) and the 2S1/2 -> 2P1/2 transition (in the case of 24Mg+). We optically pumped the ion into the (F=3, mp=±3) ground states and weakly probed it with a tunable fibre laser that was scanned to drive the ion from the ground state to the F'=3 and F'=2 manifolds of the 2P1/2 state. The final state of the ion was determined by counting fluorescence (or the reduction therein) from the 2S1/2 (F=3, mF=±3) -> 2P3/2 (F''=4, m''F=±4) cycling transition with a photomultiplier module. We determined that the hyperfine a constant is 102.16 ± 0.16 MHz and the natural linewidth is 42.4 ± 1.2 MHz.