Title:
Trapping, laser cooling, and spectroscopy of Thorium IV

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dc.contributor.advisor Kuzmich, Alex
dc.contributor.author Campbell, Corey Justin
dc.contributor.committeeMember Brown, Ken
dc.contributor.committeeMember de Heer, Walt
dc.contributor.committeeMember First, Phil
dc.contributor.committeeMember Kennedy, T. A. Brian
dc.contributor.department Physics
dc.date.accessioned 2013-09-18T15:41:45Z
dc.date.available 2013-09-18T15:41:45Z
dc.date.issued 2012-07-07
dc.description.abstract Application of precision laser spectroscopy and optical clock technology to the ground and metastable, first excited state of the ²²⁹Th nucleus at < 10 eV has significant potential for use in optical frequency metrology and tests of variation of fundamental constants. This work is a report on the development of required technologies to realize such a nuclear optical clock with a single, trapped, laser cooled ²²⁹Th³⁺ ion. Creation, trapping, laser cooling, and precision spectroscopy are developed and refined first with the naturally occurring isotope, ²³²Th. These technologies are then extended to laser cooling and precision laser spectroscopy of the electronic structure of ²²⁹Th³⁺. An efficient optical excitation search protocol to directly observe this transition via the electron bridge is proposed. The extraordinarily small systematic clock shifts are estimated and the likely extraordinarily large sensitivity of the clock to variation of the fine structure constant is discussed.
dc.description.degree Ph.D.
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/1853/48973
dc.language.iso en_US
dc.publisher Georgia Institute of Technology
dc.subject Ion trapping
dc.subject Nuclear clock
dc.subject Thorium
dc.subject.lcsh Trapped ions
dc.subject.lcsh Ions
dc.title Trapping, laser cooling, and spectroscopy of Thorium IV
dc.type Text
dc.type.genre Dissertation
dspace.entity.type Publication
local.contributor.corporatename College of Sciences
local.contributor.corporatename School of Physics
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication 85042be6-2d68-4e07-b384-e1f908fae48a
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication 2ba39017-11f1-40f4-9bc5-66f17b8f1539
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