Precision Measurement of the1s2pP32−P13Fine Structure Interval in Heliumlike Fluorine

Abstract

Using Doppler-tuned fast-beam laser spectroscopy with co- and counterpropagating beams we have measured the three hyperfine components of the $1s2p^{3}P_{2}\ensuremath{-}^{3}P_{1}$ fine structure interval in ${}^{19}{\mathrm{F}}^{7+}$. Our result for the centroid is $957.6679(10){\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$. Allowing for the hyperfine interaction the ``pure'' fine structure interval is determined to be $957.8730(12){\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$. This result tests $O({\ensuremath{\alpha}}^{7}{m}_{e}{c}^{2})$ quantum electrodynamic corrections to high precision calculations which will be used to obtain a new value for the fine structure constant from the fine structure of helium.