Resonance ionization of rubidium using sequential diode laser-driven transitions

摘要

Diode laser excitation of rubidium atoms at the D2 line followed by (1 + 1) ionization using a pulsed dye laser was examined. Mass-resolved D2 spectra were recorded for both natural isotopes. Excitation using two sequential diode laser photons was accomplished by counterpropagating the beam from the 780 nm laser and one from a 775.8 laser; the latter excites Rb from the (sup 5)P(sub 3/2) level to the (sup 5)D(sub 5/2) level at 25704 cm(sup (minus)1). A photon from the R6G laser then ionized the atom. Spectra resulting from scanning the second diode laser -- with the first an an off-resonance fixed frequency revealed both two-photon and sequential (1 + 1) processes.