Radiative lifetime of the A 2Π1/2 state in RaF with relevance to laser cooling

Abstract

The radiative lifetime of the $A$$^2 \Pi_{1/2}$ (v=0) state in radium monofluoride (RaF) is measured to be 35(1) ns. The lifetime of this state and the related decay rate $\Gamma = 2.86(8) \times 10^7$$s^{-1}$ are of relevance to the laser cooling of RaF via the optically closed $A$$^2 \Pi_{1/2} \leftarrow X$$^2\Sigma_{1/2}$ transition, which makes the molecule a promising probe to search for new physics. RaF is found to have a comparable photon-scattering rate to homoelectronic laser-coolable molecules. Thanks to its highly diagonal Franck-Condon matrix, it is expected to scatter an order of magnitude more photons than other molecules when using just 3 cooling lasers, before it decays to a dark state. The lifetime measurement in RaF is benchmarked by measuring the lifetime of the $8P_{3/2}$ state in Fr to be 83(3) ns, in agreement with literature