Abstract
We have determined a new Rydberg value, , with an order of magnitude improvement in precision, by measuring the absolute wavelengths of resolved fine-structure components of the Balmer line in hydrogen and deuterium, excited in a dc gas discharge. Doppler broadening was eliminated by saturation spectroscopy with a pulsed dye laser. An iodine-stabilized He-Ne laser was the wavelength standard. Possible sources of systematic errors have been carefully investigated.
- Received 8 April 1974
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.32.1336
©1974 American Physical Society