Hyperfine structure of molecular iodine measured using a light source with a laser linewidth at the megahertz level

The hyperfine structure of the absorption lines of molecular iodine at 531 nm was measured using a low-cost, coin-sized light source with a laser linewidth at the megahertz level. The measured hyperfine splittings were found to be systematically smaller than those measured using a narrow-linewidth diode laser. The theoretical fit of the measured hyperfine splittings to a four-term Hamiltonian, including the electric quadrupole, spin-rotation, tensor spin-spin, and scalar spin-spin interactions, does not clarify the observed systematic deviation in the measurement, but instead results in deviated hyperfine constants from reliable literature values beyond the uncertainties. Therefore, the theoretical fit, which is usually used to validate the measurement, does not provide the validation function in the case of megahertz level laser linewidths.

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