High - temperature calcium vapor cell for spectroscopy on the 4 s 2 1 S 0 – 4 s 4 p 3 P 1 intercombination line

We have demonstrated a high-temperature vapor cell for absorption spectroscopy on the Ca intercombination line. The cell uses a dual-chamber design to achieve the high temperatures necessary for an optically dense vapor while avoiding the necessity of high-temperature vacuum valves and glass-to-metal seals. We have observed over 50% absorption in a single pass through the cell. Although pressure broadening in the cell prevented us from performing saturated-absorption spectroscopy, the broadening resulted in higher signal-to-noise ratios by allowing us to probe the atoms with intensities much greater than the 0.2 W/cm2 saturation intensity of the unbroadened transition. The techniques presented in this article could easily be applied to study other transitions in a variety of atomic species. © 2005 American Institute of Physics. DOI: 10.1063/1.2148992