We describe the design and realization of a scheme for uv laser spectroscopy of singly-ionized iron (Fe II) with very high resolution. A buffer-gas cooled laser ablation source is used to provide a plasma close to room temperature with a high density of Fe II. We combine this with a scheme for pulsed-laser saturation spectroscopy to yield sub-Doppler resolution. In a demonstration experiment, w...

A tunable, narrow-band ArF laser has been used for laser-induced fluorescence detection of NO in natural abundance in a flame experiment. P and R branches of the D(2)Sigmaupsilon' = 0?X(2)Pi(3/2,1/2)upsilon'' transition were observed probing rotational states between J'' = 19.5 and J'' = 44.5. A single-shot detection limit of 1 part in 10(6) was found with a monochromator-based, dispersed-fluor...

In this paper, we present the realization of a compact, high-power laser system able to excite the ytterbium clock transition at 578 nm. Starting from an external-cavity laser based on a quantum dot chip at 1156 nm with an intra-cavity electro-optic modulator, we were able to obtain up to 60 mW of visible light at 578 nm via frequency doubling. The laser is locked with a 500 kHz bandwidth to an...

Laser frequency noise contributes a significant limitation to today's best atomic clocks. A proposed solution to this problem is to create a superradiant laser using an optical clock transition as its gain medium. This laser would act as an active atomic clock and would be highly immune to the fluctuations in reference cavity length that limit today's best lasers. We demonstrate and characteriz...

Recent developments in transition state theory brought about by dynamical systems theory are extended to time-dependent systems such as laser-driven reactions. Using time-dependent normal form theory, the authors construct a reaction coordinate with regular dynamics inside the transition region. The conservation of the associated action enables one to extract time-dependent invariant manifolds ...

We report an optical frequency standard at 657 nm based on laser-cooled/trapped Ca atoms. The system consists of a novel, compact magneto-optic trap which uses 50 mW of frequency-doubled diode laser light at 423 nm and can trap > 10 Ca atoms in 20 ms. High resolution spectroscopy on this atomic sample using the narrow 657 nm intercombination line resolves linewidths (FWHM) as narrow as 400 Hz, ...

Title of dissertation: INTERACTION OF INTENSE LASER PULSES WITH GAS FOR TWO-COLOR THZ GENERATION AND REMOTE MAGNETOMETRY Luke A. Johnson, Doctor of Philosophy, 2014 Dissertation directed by: Professor Thomas Antonsen Departments of Physics and Electrical & Computer Engineering Professor Phillip Sprangle Departments of Physics and Electrical & Computer Engineering The interaction of intense lase...

The optical properties of a caesium atomic beam driven on a resonant hyperfine transition in the D(2) line were studied as a function of the probe laser frequency. Using a third off-resonant laser system, a heterodyne interferometer allowed simultaneous absorption and phase shift measurements of either the probe or the coupling laser. The signal features of the probe and coupling laser transmit...

We describe a two-laser experiment using optical-optical double resonance fluorescence and Autler– Townes AT splittings to determine the NaK 3 1 →1 X 1 +, 2 A 1 + absolute transition dipole moment functions. Resolved 3 1 →A 1 + and 3 1 →X 1 + fluorescence was recorded with the frequencies of a titanium-sapphire laser L1 and a ring dye laser L2 fixed to excite particular 3 1 =19,J=11, f ←A 1 + ,...