Absorption Spectrum of Rubidium in a Solid Neon Matrix

We have grown solid neon crystals doped with rubidium atoms. Experiments were performed by depositing mixtures of rubidium with neon onto a sapphire window at cryogenic temperatures. We have grown multiple crystals with different sapphire temperatures, rubidium densities and neon flow rates. Once the crystals were grown, absorption spectra were acquired with white light spectroscopy. We were able to grow 400 &mgr;m thick crystals with densities on the order of 1017 cm-3.;We applied narrow band laser light from titanium-sapphire (Ti:Sap) and diode lasers tuned to different peaks and observed modifications of the absorption spectra. We also investigated annealing effects on the absorption spectra of crystals. Anneal- experiments were performed by heating crystals to 5-10 K with an increment of approximately 1 K then cooling to 3.2 K. Annealing crystals at 8 K and lower did not produce any significant change in the spectra. However, annealing crystals higher than 8 K results in significant changes in the spectra.