Zeeman Effect

Tay Xiu Wen (A0069544W)

Abstract

Zeeman effect is the splitting of atomic spectral lines into several components in the presence of a static magnetic field. The primary goal of this experiment was to observe the splitting of the spectral lines from a cadmium lamp permeated with a magnetic field and obtain an experimental value for e/m, the specific charge of an electron which 11 was found to be (1.70 0.05) x 10 C/kg. The answer yielded a 3.41% deviation from literature and this deviation was largely attributed to the human error introduced to each reading of the line spacing as judgment was required to position the cross hairs due to the finite vertical extension of each line produced.

I. Introduction In most atoms, there are degeneracies in the electronic configurations, that is, several quantum states have the same energy, so transitions between states of a different energy with any of the degenerate states all produce the same single spectral line. By applying a static magnetic field, the degeneracies of the quantum states can be broken. This is because the magnetic field has a different effect on each of the quantum states. What was once a single line spectrum will now be a series of very close spectral lines. Based on these interactions Zeeman Effect has been classified into two types, the normal Zeeman Effect and the anomalous Zeeman Effect. In the normal Zeeman Effect, the splitting is observed for states in which the only angular momentum is the orbital angular momentum and the spin does not contribute to the total angular momentum. The anomalous Zeeman Effect is seen when there is splitting observed for states in which electron spin is included. In this experiment we focus on the normal Zeeman effect which can be seen in red spectral line of cadmium (0 = 643.8 nm). It corresponds to the 1 1 transition D2 (J = 2, S = 0) to P1 (J = 1, S = 0) of an electron of the fifth shell (see Fig. 1). In the magnetic 1 field, the D2 level splits into five Zeeman 1 components, and the level P1 splits into three Zeeman components. The following selection rules apply for the magnetic quantum numbers mJ of the states involved: mj = 1 for -components = 0 for -components

Fig. 1: Transitions in cadmium atoms

Thus, we observe a total of three spectral lines (see Fig. 1); the -component is not shifted and the two -components are shifted. To observe the shift, however, we require a spectral apparatus with extremely high resolution (~500 000). A LummerGehrcke plate is used for this experiment. The light, which is divergent in the vertical direction, passes through a horizontal slit via an attached prism into a long, plane-parallel glass plate (see Fig. 2). Inside this plate, the light is reflected back and forth repeatedly, with some part of it emerging each time. 0 When observed at an angle of ~ 90 , the reflection within the plate occurs almost completely within the limit angle of total reflection. The result is a high reflection coefficient, i.e. many of the rays can interfere with each other when the plate is long enough. The emerging waves are observed from behind the plate using a telescope focused on infinity.

viewing in the longitudinal direction a doublet is observed. The splitting occurring here is the result of the additional energy shift when the electronic magnetic moment interacts with the external field. The energy shift can be expressed as
Fig. 2: Lummer-Gehrcke plate

Depending on the angular momentum component mJ in the direction of the magnetic field, the emitted photons demonstrate different polarization. They can be observed experimentally, as the magnetic field is characterized by a common axis for all cadmium atoms. In classical terms, the case mJ = 0 corresponds to an infinitesimal dipole oscillating parallel to the magnetic field. No quanta are emitted in the direction of the magnetic field. The light emitted perpendicular to the magnetic field is linearly polarized, whereby the E-vector oscillates in the direction of the dipole and parallel to the magnetic field (see Fig. 3). Conversely, in the case mJ = 1, most of the quanta travel in the direction of the magnetic field. In classical terms, this case corresponds to two parallel dipoles oscillating with a 0 phase difference of 90 . The super positioning of the two dipoles produces a circulating current. Thus, in the direction of the magnetic field, circularly polarized light is emitted; in the positive direction, it is clockwise circular for mJ = +1 and counter clockwise circular for mJ = -1 (see Fig. 3). The light emitted perpendicular to the magnetic field is linearly polarized, whereby the E-vector oscillates in the direction of the dipole and perpendicular to the magnetic field (see Fig. 3).

By measuring the displacement of the spectral lines, the change of frequency can be obtained. The 2 components are shifted for example, to + or . Using c=,

Then the difference if wavelength observed at a Lummer-Gehrcke plate are,

The e/m ratio can then be calculated by using the following formula: II. Experimental procedure Before actually using the set-up and beginning the experiment proper, the relationship between the current and the magnetic field is first determined. This was achieved by using a tangential field probe and taking down readings from 1 20 A and its corresponding magnetic field. The ds or the distance of one the split lines from the original position of the interference lines and s or the distance between two adjacent interference lines without magnetic field values are noted down using a digital micrometer. As the system of lines generated by the Lummer-GehrckeI is not equidistant, the ds and the s must be measured on the same spectral line.

Fig. 3: Polarizations of spectrum radiation

In summary, the red line is split in the magnetic field into 2 outer -components and 1 -component. They can be viewed perpendicular to the direction of the magnetic field. The 3 lines are linearly polarized, with the central line being polarized in the direction of the field while the other 2 are polarized in the direction perpendicular to the field, thus when

III. Results Magnetic field against Current 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 0 5 10 15 Current (A) 20 25

It was noted that data points that corresponds to magnetic field below 0.4T contributed more errors than those above 0.4T, this was because the line separation order of magnitude becomes closer and closer to the precision of the micrometer. Using the gradient of the plotted curve of figure 5, it 11 was found that the ratio of e/m is (1.69-0.06) x 10 C/kg. This was compared to the literature result of 11 1.76 x 10 C/kg which yields 3.98% percentage discrepancy. This discrepancy is largely due to the difficulty in accurately measuring the line spacing. However, the experimental results confirmed the validity of the equations and theory in the Zeeman splitting, showing how an applied magnetic field is able to break the degeneracy of atomic energies. IV. Discussion

Fig 4 . The calibration curve for the magnetic field produced by the coil current in the electromagnet.

Magnetic field (mT) -5

The gradient between the magnetic field produced and the coil current was evaluated to be B = 2 (39.40.2) mT using equation (4). The r value of the line of best fit through the points was calculated to be 0.9996. This is coherent with the bio-savart law that the magnetic field produce is linearly related to the coil current in the electromagnet. magnetic field against fractional separation 0.35 fractional separation, ds/deltaS (m) 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 Magnetic field (T) 0.8 0.25 0.15 0.05

The percentage discrepancy of the e/m ratio could be contributed to several factors which would be discussed in the following paragraphs. Stray magnetic fields may have been present which have interfered with the calibration of the magnetic field produced by the coil current. However, these fluctuations are minimal since no fluctuations are detected by the teslameter in the precision in which the values are recorded. Caution was also exercised to avoid placing objects with magnetic field etc. watches near the set-up. The vertical width of each line spectra as seen through the human eye was not significantly wide enough and some error was introduced when judging the center of each extended line in the spectrum that will be used to obtain the line separation. . The experiment could have been improved if a securable focusing system with a larger magnification was used. Another way to improve the accuracy of the experiment would be to illuminate the crosshairs so that referencing can be more accurate. . The eyepiece was movable, and for bespectacled experimenters, the glasses may have slightly displaced the eyepiece, changing the magnification and thus introducing errors into the measurements of line spacing. As a physical strain to the experimenter in this experiment, a webcam can be used instead of visual inspection.

Fig 5: The results obtained by plotting ds/S against magnetic field

In Figure 5, the best fit line was drawn using the linest function of Microsoft excel. A fairly high linear correlation coefficient of 0.991 is coherent with the theoretical equation in which the fractional separation and the magnetic field strength is linearly correlated.

V. Conclusion VII. References The experiment was conducted according to the instructions in the lab manual. The results yielded sound implications consistent with theory. It was particularly noted that the experiment could have been improved if a securable focusing system with a larger magnification could be used. Another suggestion would be to illuminate the crosshairs so that referencing can be more accurate. As a physical strain to the experimenter in this experiment, a webcam can be used instead of visual inspection. VIII. Appendix PC3193 Zeeman effect Laboratory Manual "The Zeeman Effect." The Zeeman Effect. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2013. "Anomalous Zeeman Effect." Anomalous Zeeman Effect. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2013.

B-field (mT) 2 39 74 109 142 180 213 251 285 320 356 392 428 462 497 533 568 604 636 663 689

B-field (mT) 2 38 72 106 145 181 216 249 284 320 355 394 426 463 499 535 566 602 633 664 690

Average (mT) 2 38.5 73 107.5 143.5 180.5 214.5 250 284.5 320 355.5 393 427 462.5 498 534 567 603 634.5 663.5 689.5

Current (A) 0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 9.0 10.0 11.0 12.0 13.0 14.0 15.0 16.0 17.0 18.0 19.0 20.0

B field Current (T) (A) 2ds (m) 2ds (m) Average 2ds(m) /2 0.6895 20.0 0.000096 0.000095 0.00004775 0.6635 19.0 0.000085 0.000086 0.00004275 0.6345 18.0 0.00008 0.000079 0.00003975 0.567 16.0 0.000075 0.000077 0.000038 0.498 14.0 0.000068 0.00007 0.0000345 0.427 12.0 0.000057 0.00006 0.00002925 0.3555 10.0 0.000055 0.00005 0.00002625 0.2845 8.0 0.000046 0.000042 0.000022 0.2145 6.0 0.000031 0.000029 0.000015 0.1435 4.0 0.000028 0.000024 0.000013 0.073 2.0 0.000013 0.00002 0.00000825 0.002 0.0 0 0 0

Delta S (m) 0.000157 0.000167 0.000164 0.000167 0.000162