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We report precision measurements of the excited state lifetime of the 5p ^2P₁∕₂ and 5p ^2P₃∕₂ levels of a single trapped Cd^+ ion. Combining ion trap and ultrafast laser technologies, the ion is excited with picosecond laser pulses from a mode-locked laser and the distribution of arrival times of spontaneously emitted photons is recorded. The resulting lifetimes are 3. 1480. 0110. 3em{0ex}ns and 2. 6470. 0100. 3em{0ex}ns for ^2P₁∕₂ and ^2P₃∕₂ respectively. With a total uncertainty of under 0. 4%, these are among the most precise measurements of any atomic state lifetimes to date.
Moehring et al. (Tue,) studied this question.