HIGH QUALITY SATURATED ABSORPTION SPECTROSCOPY IN A SPUTTERED VAPOUR: APPLICATION TO ISOTOPE SHIFTS IN Zr I

Abstract

This chapter presents high-quality saturated absorption spectroscopy in a sputtered vapor. Recent investigations have shown that narrow, pedestal-free saturated absorption spectra may be readily obtained in a sputtered atomic vapor by employing a planar-cathode sputtering discharge operated at low pressure and by using a high chopping frequency of the laser pump beam. Use of the sputtering vaporization technique allows high-resolution saturation spectroscopy to be readily extended to almost any element, including the highly refractory elements. The chapter describes the application of saturated absorption in a sputtered vapor to the determination of accurate isotope shifts in zirconium, a highly refractory element for which there are a few reliable isotope shift data and for which the isotope shifts are small compared with the Doppler broadening. Isotope shifts in zirconium are of special interest since they permit investigation of the effect on the nuclear charge distribution of adding a single neutron and also pairs of neutrons to a closed shell of fifty neutrons (90Zr).