hyperfine splitting

[preprint] Spectroscopy on a single trapped 137Ba+ ion for nuclear magnetic octupole moment determination

Spectroscopy on a single trapped 137Ba+ ion for nuclear magnetic octupole moment determination

N.C. Lewty et al.

arXiv: http://arxiv.org/abs/1205.6908

We present precision measurements of the hyperfine splittings in the 5D3/2 manifold of a single trapped Barium ion, 137Ba+. Measurements of the hyperfine splittings are made between mF = 0 sublevels over a range of magnetic fields allowing us to interpolate to the zero field splittings with an accuracy below 10 Hz. Our results, in conjunction with theoretical calculations, allow the determination of the hyperfine coupling constant, C, with an accuracy below 0.1 Hz. This gives a subsequent determination of the nuclear magnetic octupole moment with an uncertainty limited almost completely by the accuracy of theoretical calculations.