Coherence-enhanced optical determination of the 229Th isomeric transition.
The impact of coherent light propagation on the excitation and fluorescence of thorium nuclei in a crystal lattice environment is investigated theoretically. We find that in the forward direction, the fluorescence signal exhibits characteristic intensity modulations dominated by a sped-up initial decay signal that is orders of magnitude faster. This feature can be exploited for the optical determination of the isomeric transition energy. In order to obtain a unmistakable signature of the isomeric nuclear fluorescence, we put forward a novel scheme for the direct measurement of the transition energy via electromagnetically modified nuclear forward scattering involving two fields that couple to three nuclear states.
Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg 1, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany. Wen-Te.Liao@mpi-hd.mpg.de
Wen-Te
WT
Liao
Sumanta
S
Das
Christoph H
CH
Keitel
Adriana
A
Pálffy