Abstract

Although there is much information about the distribution of protons within the atomic nucleus, very little is known about the distribution of neutrons in nuclei, and one has to rely heavily on theory. A unique experimental probe of the nuclear magnetization distribution is precision measurements of the magnetic hyperfine constants (A) with laser spectroscopy. The magnetic hyperfine interaction can be viewed as arising from an effective magnetic held from the electron interacting with the magnetization of the nucleus. Different atomic states have different radial wavefunctions, and will sample the nuclear magnetization distribution with different weighting. This is the origin of the hyperfine anomaly (Bohr Weisskopf effect). A possible way to get at the neutron positions in nuclei is to look at the radial dependence of the magnetization generated by the neutrons.

© 1998 Optical Society of America