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arXiv:0807.3408 · Physical Review Letters

Doppler-Free Spectroscopy of the S01−P03 Optical Clock Transition in Laser-Cooled Fermionic Isotopes of Neutral Mercury

M. Petersen, Radu Chicireanu, Samuel T. Dawkins, Daniel Varela Magalhães, C. Mandache, Yann Le Coq, Andr Clairon, S. Bize

Published Oct 29, 2008• 92 citations

Abstract

We report direct laser spectroscopy of the $^{1}S_{0}\mathrm{\text{\ensuremath{-}}}^{3}P_{0}$ transition at 265.6 nm in fermionic isotopes of neutral mercury in a magneto-optical trap. Measurements of the frequency against the LNE-SYRTE primary reference using an optical frequency comb yield $1\text{ }128\text{ }575\text{ }290\text{ }808.4\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}5.6\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{kHz}$ in $^{199}\mathrm{Hg}$ and $1\text{ }128\text{ }569\text{ }561\text{ }139.6\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}5.3\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{kHz}$ in $^{201}\mathrm{Hg}$. The uncertainty, allowed by the observation of the Doppler-free recoil doublet, is 4 orders of magnitude lower than previous indirect determinations. Mercury is a promising candidate for future optical lattice clocks due to its low sensitivity to blackbody radiation.

DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.101.183004

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We report direct laser spectroscopy of the

^{1}S_{0}\mathrm{\text{\ensuremath{-}}}^{3}P_{0}

transition at 265.6 nm in fermionic isotopes of neutral mercury in a magneto-optical trap. Measurements of the frequency against the LNE-SYRTE primary reference using an optical frequency comb yield

1\text{ }128\text{ }575\text{ }290\text{ }808.4\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}5.6\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{kHz}

in

^{199}\mathrm{Hg}

and

1\text{ }128\text{ }569\text{ }561\text{ }139.6\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}5.3\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{kHz}

in

^{201}\mathrm{Hg}

. The uncertainty, allowed by the observation of the Doppler-free recoil doublet, is 4 orders of magnitude lower than previous indirect determinations. Mercury is a promising candidate for future optical lattice clocks due to its low sensitivity to blackbody radiation.

We report the direct excitation of the highly forbidden (6s2) 1S0 <--> (6s6p) 3P0 optical transition in two odd isotopes of neutral ytterbium. As the excitation laser frequency is scanned, absorption is detected by monitoring the depletion from an atomic cloud at approximately 70 microK in a magneto-optical trap. The measured frequency in 171Yb (F=1/2) is 518,295,836,591.6 +/- 4.4 kHz. The measured frequency in 173Yb (F=5/2) is 518,294,576,847.6 +/- 4.4 kHz. Measurements are made with a femtosecond-laser frequency comb calibrated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology cesium fountain clock and represent nearly a 10(6)-fold reduction in uncertainty. The natural linewidth of these J=0 to J=0 transitions is calculated to be approximately 10 mHz, making them well suited to support a new generation of optical atomic clocks based on confinement in an optical lattice.

This work has focused on two atoms, Sr and Yb, due in part to the relatively high abundance of their odd isotopes, the use of which is necessary for appreciable direct excitation probability. The Sr clock transition has been measured (with an uncertainty of 20 kHz) using atoms in a magneto-optic trap (MOT), and has been excited with atoms confined in a one dimensional lattice. Here we report direct excitation of the Yb clock transition (at 578 nm) with atoms in a second-stage MOT, and the first fs-laser comb-based absolute measurements of the clock frequency for two different isotopes. These measurements lead to a nearly millionfold improvement in our knowledge of the transition frequencies, an important step toward Doppler-free spectroscopy of Yb atoms in a lattice.

We report on the Lamb-Dicke spectroscopy of the doubly forbidden (6s(2))(1)S(0)↔(6s6p)(3)P(0) transition in (199)Hg atoms confined to a vertical 1D optical lattice. With lattice trapping of ≲10(3) atoms and a 265.6 nm probe laser linked to the LNE-SYRTE primary frequency reference we have determined the center frequency of the transition for a range of lattice wavelengths and at two lattice trap depths. We find the Stark-free (magic) wavelength to be 362.53(0.21) nm-essential knowledge for future use of this line in a clock with anticipated 10(-18) range accuracy. We also present evidence of the laser excitation of a Wannier-Stark ladder of states in a lattice of well depth 10E(R).

This work has focused on two atoms, Sr and Yb, due in part to the relatively high abundance of their odd isotopes, the use of which is necessary for appreciable direct excitation probability. The Sr clock transition has been measured (with an uncertainty of 20 kHz) using atoms in a magneto-optic trap (MOT), and has been excited with atoms confined in a one dimensional lattice. Here we report direct excitation of the Yb clock transition (at 578 nm) with atoms in a second-stage MOT, and the first fs-laser comb-based absolute measurements of the clock frequency for two different isotopes. These measurements lead to a nearly millionfold improvement in our knowledge of the transition frequencies, an important step toward Doppler-free spectroscopy of Yb atoms in a lattice.

Due to its low sensitivity to blackbody radiation, neutral mercury is a good candidate for the most accurate optical lattice clock. Here we report the observation of cold mercury atoms in a magneto-optical trap (MOT). Because of the high vapor pressure at room temperature, the mercury source and the cold pump were cooled down to −40 °C and −70 °C, respectively, to keep the science chamber in an ultra-high vacuum of 6 × 10 −9 Pa. Limited by the power of the UV cooling laser, the one beam folded MOT configuration was adopted, and 1.5 × 10 5 Hg-202 atoms were observed by fluorescence detection.