Photoassociative spectroscopy at long range in ultracold strontium

Phys Rev Lett. 2005 Mar 4;94(8):083004. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.083004. Epub 2005 Mar 3.

Abstract

We report photoassociative spectroscopy of 88Sr(2) in a magneto-optical trap operating on the 1S0-->3P1 intercombination line at 689 nm. Photoassociative transitions are driven with a laser red detuned by 600-2400 MHz from the 1S0-->1P1 atomic resonance at 461 nm. Photoassociation takes place at extremely large internuclear separation, and the photoassociative spectrum is strongly affected by relativistic retardation. A fit of the transition frequencies determines the 1P1 atomic lifetime (tau=5.22+/-0.03 ns) and resolves a discrepancy between experiment and recent theoretical calculations.