Resonance ionization spectroscopy on a fast atomic ytterbium beam

Abstract

Resonance ionization spectroscopy in collinear geometry has been successfully applied to a fast beam of ytterbium atoms. The atoms were excited stepwise into a Rydberg state by pulsed laser light, ionized in an electrical field and deflected onto a secondary electron detector. The efficiency was 1*10-5 detected ions per incoming atom on a background from collisional ionization of 1*10-8. The technique has been exploited for the measurement of hyperfine structures and isotope shifts of unstable ytterbium isotopes, in particular 157Yb, 159Yb and 175Yb.