Abstract

We deflected a well-collimated beam of krypton atoms in the metastable ls₅ state by radiation pressure from a single-frequency dye laser. To produce the radiation pressure, we resonantly excited the krypton atoms, using the 1s₅–2p₉ transition. The natural width of this transition is much smaller than its isotope shift, which allowed us to deflect one isotope at a time. This created a new isotopically enriched atomic beam of Kr(1s₅). We achieved a maximum enrichment factor of 1.2 × 10⁴ at a deflection angle of 19 mrad. This enrichment is limited mainly by scattering of the parent atomic beam by residual gas. This degree of enrichment may make it possible to perform sensitive measurements of the concentrations of rare krypton isotopes in environmental samples.

© 1989 Optical Society of America

Resonant isotopic depletion spectroscopy

G. R. Janik, B. A. Bushaw, and B. D. Cannon
Opt. Lett. 14(5) 266-268 (1989)

Large-angle beam deflection of a laser-cooled sodium beam

J. Nellessen, J. H. Müller, K. Sengstock, and W. Ertmer
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 6(11) 2149-2154 (1989)

Laser cooling and deflection of a calcium atomic beam

A. Witte, Th. Kisters, F. Riehle, and J. Helmcke
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 9(7) 1030-1037 (1992)

Velocity selective bipolarization spectroscopy for laser cooling of metastable krypton atoms

Y. B. Kale, V. B. Tiwari, S. Singh, S. R. Mishra, and H. S. Rawat
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 31(11) 2531-2539 (2014)

Prospects for using laser-prepared atomic fountains for optical frequency standards applications

J. L. Hall, M. Zhu, and P. Buch
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 6(11) 2194-2205 (1989)