First Measurement of the Nuclear Charge Radii of Short-Lived Lithium Isotopes

A novel method for the determination of nuclear charge radii of lithium isotopes is presented. Precise laser spectroscopic measurements of the isotope shift in the lithium 2s ! 3s transition are combined with highly accurate atomic physics calculation of the mass dependent isotope shift to extract the charge-distribution- sensitive information. This approach has been used to determine the charge radii of 8;9 Li for the rst time.