Magneto-optic trapping of radioactiveRb79

Abstract

Radioactive ${}_{}{}^{79}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{Rb}$ atoms have been produced in a nuclear reaction and were captured into a magneto-optic trap in a cell. A fluorescence signal was obtained from 80 ${}_{}{}^{79}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{Rb}$ atoms in the trap. The efficiency of the process is estimated as 1×${10}^{\mathrm{-}5}$ atom in the trap for every atom/sec produced. This efficiency is sufficient to develop further experiments to measure atomic properties of Fr with the eventual goal of observing parity nonconservation effects in neutral atoms of different radioactive isotopes of Fr.