Metastable Krypton Production with a Commercial Lamp and a Low Power Diode Laser

We report progress on our investigation of all optical production of metastable-state krypton (Kr*) in a two-step excitation process (124nm +819nm) that uses a commercial Kr lamp and a low power diode laser. While metastable-state noble gases find application in a wide range of scientific experiments and applications, our primary motivation is to replace the radio-frequency discharge typically used for Kr* production in Atom Trap Trace Analysis (ATTA), a radiokrypton dating technique, thereby reducing the potential for sample contamination of the apparatus. Previous demonstration of all optical Kr* production in other groups has deployed homebuilt lamps and a Ti:S laser. Here we characterize the efficiency of a commercial lamp and replace the expensive Ti:S laser with a semiconductor diode laser. The latter is enabled by placing the excitation region in a power build-up cavity that is locked to the 819nm laser. We have investigated Kr* production in a gas cell as a function of gas pressure and 819nm laser power. Future studies are planned for all-optical Kr* production in an atomic beam. We thank Z.-T. Lu for collaborative discussions at the beginning of this project and Argonne National Lab for support.