Precision measurement and calculation of the 3d /sup 2/D-level lifetimes of /sup 40/Ca+

Int this paper, a measurement technique based on deterministic coherent excitation to the D/sub 5/2/ state or incoherent shelving in the D/sub 3/2/ state is introduced, followed by a waiting period with free spontaneous decay and finally a measurement of the remaining excitation by high-efficiency quantum state detection.