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Establishing a nonzero measurement of the electron Electric Dipole Moment (eEDM) has long been a fundamental pursuit in atomic, molecular and optical physics, offering possible insights into new physics beyond the Standard Model. In this regard, lead monofluoride (PbF) has emerged as a potential candidate for measuring eEDM primarily due to its suitable properties such as the strong internal effective electric field, and eEDM-sensitive ground state with large Ω-doubling and small magnetic g factor. In the present work, we realized the production of a buffer-gas-cooled PbF molecular beam and characterized its high-resolution spectroscopy in the B 2Σ+(υ’=0) ← X1 2Π1/2(υ = 0) transition, including both direct absorption and laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy. A highly concentrated beam of PbF molecules is obtained with a central forward velocity of 223 ± 17 m/s, while 81, 66 and 24 hyperfine-structure-resolved spectral lines with a frequency accuracy of 40 MHz have been assigned respectively for 208PbF, 207PbF and 206PbF isotopologues. The hyperfine constants due to the 19F nucleus (A∥ and A⊥) of the B state are reported for the first time, and those of the 207Pb nucleus have been also updated. Such a cryogenic molecular beam of PbF in association with its hyperfine-structure-resolved spectral atlas of the B 2Σ+(υ’=0) ← X1 2Π1/2(υ = 0) transition will be essential in developing sensitive detection schemes towards the eEDM measurement. 

We have developed a mid-infrared Doppler-free saturation absorption spectroscopy apparatus that employs a commercial continuous-wave optical parametric oscillator (CW OPO), complemented by a home-built automation and wavelength scanning system. Here, we report a comprehensive spectral scan of the Q branch transitions of theν₃= 1 band of methane (CH₄) with an average linewidth (FWHM) of 4.5 MHz. The absolute frequency calibration was achieved using previously reported transition frequencies determined using optical frequency combs, while a Fabry–Perot etalon was used for the relative frequency calibration. We report 15 transitions with improved accuracies of 1.13 MHz (3.76 × 10⁻⁵cm⁻¹). 

The four lowest Ω substates (X2Π3/2,g, X2Π1/2,g, A2Π3/2,u and A2Π1/2,u) of the cation have been studied by high-precision ab initio calculations in comparison with experimental high-resolution absorption spectra. The potential energy curves were calculated using the multi-reference configuration interaction (MRCI) method and Dirac method, respectively. Rovibrational levels of these electronic states were derived by solving the radial Schrödinger rovibrational equation. Molecular constants were obtained in fitting energy levels to a spectroscopic model. Using the fit spectroscopic constants and newly calculated transition dipole moment matrix elements, line strengths of vibronic bands in the A2Π3/2,u- X2Π3/2,g system, as well as Einstein A coefficients for 45 of these bands with ν′ = 11–19 and ν′′ = 1–5, have been derived. The Einstein A coefficients were used to compute radiative lifetimes of the ν′ = 11–19 vibrational levels of the A2Π3/2,u state. Enhancement factors for detecting the variation of the fine-structure constant (α) and the proton-to-electron mass ratio(µ) using transitions between nearly degenerate rovibronic levels of these low-lying states have been calculated. 

Vibronically resolved laser-induced fluorescence/dispersed fluorescence (LIF/DF) and cavity ring-down (CRD) spectra of the electronic transition of the calcium isopropoxide [CaOCH(CH 3 ) 2 ] radical have been obtained under jet-cooled conditions. An essentially constant energy separation of 68 cm −1 has been observed for the vibrational ground levels and all fundamental vibrational levels accessed in the LIF measurement. To simulate the experimental spectra and assign the recorded vibronic bands, Franck–Condon (FC) factors and vibrational branching ratios (VBRs) are predicted from vibrational modes and their frequencies calculated using the complete-active-space self-consistent field (CASSCF) and equation-of-motion coupled-cluster singles and doubles (EOM-CCSD) methods. Combined with the calculated electronic transition energy, the computational results, especially those from the EOM-CCSD calculations, reproduced the experimental spectra with considerable accuracy. The experimental and computational results suggest that the FC matrix for the studied electronic transition is largely diagonal, but transitions from the vibrationless levels of the à state to the X̃-state levels of the CCC bending ( ν 14 and ν 15 ), CaO stretch ( ν 13 ), and CaOC asymmetric stretch ( ν 9 and ν 11 ) modes also have considerable intensities. Transitions to low-frequency in-plane [ ν 17 ( a ′)] and out-of-plane [ ν 30 ( a ′′)] CaOC bending modes were observed in the experimental LIF/DF spectra, the latter being FC-forbidden but induced by the pseudo-Jahn–Teller (pJT) effect. Both bending modes are coupled to the CaOC asymmetric stretch mode via the Duschinsky rotation, as demonstrated in the DF spectra obtained by pumping non-origin vibronic transitions. The pJT interaction also induces transitions to the ground-state vibrational level of the ν 10 ( a ′) mode, which has the CaOC bending character. Our combined experimental and computational results provide critical information for future direct laser cooling of the target molecule and other alkaline earth monoalkoxide radicals. 

A procedure for timely, accurate, and reproducible alignment of an optical cavity is described.