# Time-Domain Measurement of Spontaneous Vibrational Decay of Magnetically Trapped NH

 Title: Time-Domain Measurement of Spontaneous Vibrational Decay of Magnetically Trapped NH Author: Campbell, Wesley; Groenenboom, Gerrit; Tsikata, Edem; Lu, Hsin-I; Doyle, John M. Note: Order does not necessarily reflect citation order of authors. Citation: Campbell, Wesley, Gerrit Groenenboom, Hsin-I Lu, Edem Tsikata, and John M. Doyle. 2008. Time-Domain measurement of spontaneous vibrational decay of magnetically trapped NH. Physical Review Letters 100(8): 083003. Full Text & Related Files: 0711.0379v2.pdf (271.7Kb; PDF) Abstract: The $$v = 1 \to 0$$ radiative lifetime of $$NH (X^3 \Sigma^-, v=1, N=0)$$ is determined to be $$\tau_{rad,\text{exp.}} = 37.0 \pm 0.5_{\text{stat}}{}^{+2.0} _{-0.8\text{syst}}$$ miliseconds, corresponding to a transition dipole moment of $$|\mu_{10}| = 0.0540_{{-0.0018}^{+0.0009}}$$ D. To achieve the long observation times necessary for direct time-domain measurement, vibrationally excited $$NH (X^3 \Sigma^-, v=1)$$ radicals are magnetically trapped using helium buffer-gas loading. The rate constant for background helium-induced collisional quenching was determined to be $$k_{v=1}<3.9 \times 10^{-15}cm^3s^{-1}$$, which yields the quoted systematic uncertainty on τrad,exp.. With a new ab initio dipole moment function and a Rydberg-Klein-Rees potential, we calculate a lifetime of 36.99 ms, in agreement with our experimental value. Published Version: doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.083003 Other Sources: http://arxiv.org/abs/0711.0379 Terms of Use: This article is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Open Access Policy Articles, as set forth at http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of-use#OAP Citable link to this page: http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:8866871 Downloads of this work: