Rostock 2019 – scientific programme

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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 23: Photonics I

Q 23.5: Talk

Monday, March 11, 2019, 17:15–17:30, S Ex 04 E-Tech

Characterization of a VUV plasma lamp for the production of metastable krypton for a MOT — •Svenja Sonder, Carsten Sieveke, Ergin Simsek, and Pablo Woelk — Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker Centre for Science and Peace Research, University of Hamburg, Beim Schlump 83, 20144 Hamburg, Germany

Krypton is an excellent tracer for the detection of clandestine reprocessing of plutonium and groundwater dating. For the effective measurement of its concentration in the atmosphere small sample sizes and large sample throughput rates are required. In our ATTA (Atom Trap Trace Analysis) experiment we want to use a magneto-optical trap to measure the concentration of Krypton in air samples. This method allows to capture specific isotopes and is sensitive to the parts-per-trillion level.

As it is not possible to capture krypton atoms in the ground state, we need to excite them to a metastable state. To avoid cross contamination, we do not use RF-driven excitation, but an all-optical one with self-build VUV plasma lamps. The properties of the VUV lamps are a key factor for the performance of the whole apparatus.

We present a comprehensive characterization of our VUV lamps with a VUV gold detector. Of key interest are VUV photon flux, spatial emission profile, lamp lifetime and long-term stability.