Degree Year

2012

Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Physics and Astronomy

Advisor(s)

Jason Stalnaker

Keywords

Frequency comb, Optical frequency comb, Atomic spectroscopy, Ultrafast laser, Velocity selective resonance, Precision spectroscopy, Doppler-free atomic spectroscopy, Two-photon, Spectroscopy, Rubidium

Abstract

Precision spectroscopy measurements have contributed significantly to our understanding of the fundamental structure of atoms. Here we present an experiment involving a new precision spectroscopic technique using a femtosecond optical frequency comb to excite two-photon transitions in rubidium. A femtosecond optical frequency comb is an ultrashort, pulsed laser with tens of thousands of frequencies, equally spaced in frequency-space. These frequencies can be used to excite atoms to specific transitions. The frequency comb is a versatile instrument that can avoid many of the experimental uncertainties that are associated with other spectroscopic techniques. The specific technique we use is called velocity selective resonance, and it is used to eliminate Doppler broadening in our spectra. In addition, the setup could be cheaply and easily altered to study different atoms or systems. In this experiment, we study this new precision measurement technique of using an optical frequency comb for spectroscopy.

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