Laser Cooling and Trapping Group

Metastable Xenon Project

Metastable Lifetimes and Frequency Standards

We have made a number of measurements relevant to the creation of a two-photon optical frequency standard with metastable xenon. This idea is outlined in:

• S. L. Rolston and W. D. Phillips, Proc. IEEE 79, 943 (1991).

We have made measurements of the metastable lifetimes in xenon:

• M. Walhout, A. Witte, and S. L. Rolston, Phys. Rev. Lett. 72, 2843 (1994).
• M. Walhout, U. Sterr, A. Witte, and S. L. Rolston, Opt. Lett. 20, 1192 (1995).

We have also measured the energy levels relevant to the two-photon transition:

• U. Sterr, A. Bard, Craig J. Sansonetti, S. L. Rolston, and J. D. Gillaspy, Opt. Lett. 20, 1421 (1995).

For more information contact

Steven Rolston
National Institute of Standards and Technology
PHYS A168
Gaithersburg, MD 20899
(301) 975-6581
e-mail: steven.rolston@nist.gov

Inquiries or comments: steven.rolston@nist.gov
Online: May 1998   -   Last update: June 2003 (format only)