MRI: Acquisition of a Frequency Quadrupled Titanium Sapphire laser for Ion, Atom and Molecule Spectroscopy

高质量的激光系统使原子和分子的控制和研究成为可能。这项重大研究仪器（MRI）奖支持获得广泛可调谐激光系统，该系统将打开周期表的大片研究。将光与不同的元素相结合，PI将进行从寻找携带新的力的玻色子到研究核结构和研究分子碰撞的实验。该仪器将丰富实验室教学，因为巴克内尔大学和萨斯奎汉纳大学的本科生研究人员将获得使用原子和分子物理学最先进仪器的第一手经验。将获得覆盖250至1000 nm光谱窗口重要部分的连续波（CW）频率四倍钛蓝宝石激光器，并将其集成到原子，巴克内尔大学的分子和光学物理实验室。该激光系统将被用于精确的同位素位移测量实验，这些实验的动机是对标准模型之外的物理学进行搜索，以及碱金属双原子分子的分子光谱学，目的是表征相互作用强度、碰撞率和电子势能曲线。来自这两个机构的本科生将参与实验的各个方面，获得原子，离子和分子光谱学，激光冷却，离子捕获和其他对AMO物理学当代工作至关重要的技能的经验。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

High quality laser systems make possible the control and investigation of atoms and molecules with exquisite precision. This Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) award supports the acquisition of a broadly tunable laser system which will open up large swathes of the periodic table for study. Combining the light with different elements, the PIs will conduct experiments ranging from searching for new force carrying bosons, to studying nuclear structure, and investigating molecular collisions. The instrument will enrich laboratory instruction, as undergraduate student researchers at Bucknell University and Susquehanna University will gain first-hand experience working with state-of-the art instrumentation in atomic and molecular physics.A continuous wave (CW) frequency quadrupled titanium sapphire laser covering significant sections of the 250 to 1000 nm spectral window will be acquired and integrated into the atomic, molecular and optical (AMO) physics lab at Bucknell University. The laser system will be used for experiments in precision isotope shift measurements motivated by searches of physics beyond the standard model, as well as molecular spectroscopy of alkali diatomic molecules with the aim of characterizing interaction strengths, collisions rates, and electronic potential energy curves. Undergraduate students from both institutions will be involved in all aspects of the experiments, gaining experience in atom, ion, and molecular spectroscopy, laser cooling, ion trapping and other skills which are central to contemporary work in AMO physics.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.