On-line Excited-State Laser Spectroscopy of Trapped Short-Lived Ra^+ Ions

As an important step towards an atomic parity violation experiment in one single trapped Ra$^+$ ion, laser spectroscopy experiments were performed with on-line produced short-lived $^{212,213,214}$Ra$^+$ ions. The isotope shift of the $6\,^2$D$_{3/2}$\,-\,$7\,^2$P$_{1/2}$ and $6\,^2$D$_{3/2}$\,-\,$7\,^2$P$_{3/2}$ transitions and the hyperfine structure constant of the $7\,^2$S$_{1/2}$ and $6\,^2$D$_{3/2}$ states in $^{213}$Ra$^+$ were measured. These values provide a benchmark for the required atomic theory. A lower limit of $232(4)$ ms for the lifetime of the metastable $6\,^2$D$_{5/2}$ state was measured by optical shelving.