Determination of the Rydberg constant by direct frequency measurement

Author

Nez, F. ; Plimmer, M.D. ; Sourzeix, S. ; Julien, L. ; Felder, R. ; Millerioux, Y. ; De Natale, P. ; Biraben, F.

Author_Institution

Lab. Kastler-Brossel, Univ. Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France

fYear

1994

fDate

June 27 1994-July 1 1994

Firstpage

400

Abstract

We have performed a pure frequency measurement of the 2S8S/D two photon transition in atomic hydrogen, without any interferometry. The hydrogen frequencies are compared with the difference of two optical standards, the methane stabilized He-Ne laser and the iodine stabilized He-Ne laser. In this way, an optical frequency of atomic hydrogen is directly linked for the first time to the cesium clock. We deduce a new value for the Rydberg constant with an uncertainty of 2.2 parts in 10/sup 11/. This value is currently the most precise available.<>

Keywords

atomic clocks; atomic excited states; constants; frequency measurement; gas lasers; helium; hydrogen neutral atoms; laser beam applications; neon; two-photon processes; two-photon spectroscopy; H; He-Ne; He-Ne-I/sub 2/; I/sub 2/ stabilized He-Ne laser; Rydberg constant; atomic hydrogen; cesium clock; direct frequency measurement; methane stabilized He-Ne laser; optical frequency; optical standards; two photon transition; Atom optics; Atomic beams; Atomic measurements; Clocks; Frequency measurement; Hydrogen; Laser stability; Laser transitions; Optical interferometry; Performance evaluation;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Precision Electromagnetic Measurements, 1994. Digest., 1994 Conference on

Conference_Location

Boulder, CO, USA

Print_ISBN

0-7803-1984-2

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/CPEM.1994.333338

Filename

333338