Optical isotope shifts of stable hafnium atoms in a resonance cell on-line with a heavy-ion accelerator.

Abstract

Optical isotope shifts were measured on the 618-nm, ground-state transition of Hf i for the isotopes $^{174\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}180}\mathrm{Hf}$. For the isotope pair 178-180, a specific mass shift of approximately -8 times the normal mass shift was deduced for this transition. The large size of this shift is consistent with other specific mass shifts that result from a broken d-shell electron pair. A transtion electronic factor of ${\mathit{E}}_{618}$=0.158\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.012 was extracted from the data. Excited-state hyperfine coefficients for the odd isotopes $^{179}\mathrm{Hf}$ and $^{177}\mathrm{Hf}$ were also deduced. The values of mean-square-charge radii obtained for the isotopic chain agree well with previously published results.