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Exciting positronium with a solid-state UV laser: the Doppler-broadened Lyman-alpha transition

Deller, A; Edwards, D; Mortensen, T; Isaac, CA; van der Werf, DP; Telle, HH; Charlton, M; (2015) Exciting positronium with a solid-state UV laser: the Doppler-broadened Lyman-alpha transition. Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular & Optical Physics , 48 (17) 10.1088/0953-4075/48/17/175001. Green open access

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Abstract

A tunable, pulsed laser was used to excite the Lyman-α transition (1S–2P) of positronium (Ps). The laser system has a large bandwidth of $\Delta \nu =225$ GHz at $\lambda =243$ nm, providing significant coverage of the Doppler-broadened, single-photon transition. The infra-red fundamental of a Nd:YAG laser was converted to ultraviolet by a series of solid-state, nonlinear processes, centred about an unseeded optical parametric oscillator, from which the bulk of the ultimate bandwidth derives. The Ps atoms were created by bombarding mesoporous silica with positrons, and the Doppler-width of the 1S–2P transition of the resulting ensemble was measured to be $\Delta \nu =672\pm 43$ GHz (equivalent to $T\approx 300$ K). It is envisaged that the UV laser will be incorporated into a two-step process to efficiently form Rydberg states of Ps, with potential applications in synthesis of cold antihydrogen, gravity measurements with antimatter, or for injection of electrons and positrons into a stellarator.

Type: Article
Title: Exciting positronium with a solid-state UV laser: the Doppler-broadened Lyman-alpha transition
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1088/0953-4075/48/17/175001
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0953-4075/48/17/175001
Language: English
Additional information: Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
Keywords: Science & Technology, Physical Sciences, Optics, Physics, Atomic, Molecular & Chemical, Physics, antimatter, positronium, Doppler spectroscopy, nonlinear optics, SLOW POSITRONS, EXCITATION, COLLISIONS, ZEEMAN, STARK, BEAMS
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1481678
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