Fine and hyperfine interactions in 171YbOH and 173YbOH

The odd isotopologues of ytterbium monohydroxide, (YbOH)-Yb-171,173, have been identified as promising molecules to measure parity (P) and time reversal (T) violating physics. Here, we characterize the (A) over tilde (2)Pi(1/2)(0, 0, 0) - (X) over tilde (2)Sigma(+)(0, 0, 0) band near 577 nm for these odd isotopologues. Both laser-induced fluorescence excitation spectra of a supersonic molecular beam sample and absorption spectra of a cryogenic buffer-gas cooled sample were recorded. In addition, a novel spectroscopic technique based on laser-enhanced chemical reactions is demonstrated and used in absorption measurements. This technique is especially powerful for disentangling congested spectra. An effective Hamiltonian model is used to extract the fine and hyperfine parameters for the (A) over tilde (2)Pi(1/2)(0, 0, 0) and (X) over tilde (2)Sigma(+)(0, 0, 0) states. A comparison of the determined (X) over tilde (2)Sigma(+)(0, 0, 0) hyperfine parameters with recently predicted values [Denis et al., J. Chem. Phys. 152, 084303 (2020); K. Gaul and R. Berger, Phys. Rev. A 101, 012508 (2020); and Liu et al., J. Chem. Phys. 154,064110 (2021)] is made. The measured hyperfine parameters provide experimental confirmation of the computational methods used to compute the P,T-violating coupling constants W-d and W-M, which correlate P,T-violating physics to P,T-violating energy shifts in the molecule. The dependence of the fine and hyperfine parameters of the (A) over tilde (2)Pi(1/2)(0, 0, 0) and (X) over tilde (2)Sigma(+)(0, 0, 0) states for all isotopologues of YbOH are discussed, and a comparison to isoelectronic YbF is made. Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.

Automated summary

The study characterizes the spectral properties of odd isotopologues of ytterbium monohydroxide and explores the measurement of parity and time reversal violating physics parameters. Experimental results provide validation for theoretical computational methods, revealing further insights into P,T-violating physics in the molecule.