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arXiv:1406.2340 · Physical Review Letters

Measurement of the Hyperfine Quenching Rate of the Clock Transition in Yb171

Chenyu Xu, Jaideep Taggart Singh, Jake Zappala, K. Bailey, Matthew Dietrich, J. P. Greene, Wei Jiang, N. Lemke, Zheng‐Tian Lu, Peter Mueller, Thomas P. O’Connor

Published Jul 18, 2014• 12 citations
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Abstract

We report the first experimental determination of the hyperfine quenching rate of the $6{s}^{2}\text{ }^{1}{S}_{0}(F=1/2)\ensuremath{-}6s6p\text{ }^{3}{P}_{0}(F=1/2)$ transition in $^{171}\mathrm{Yb}$ with nuclear spin $I=1/2$. This rate determines the natural linewidth and the Rabi frequency of the clock transition of a Yb optical frequency standard. Our technique involves spectrally resolved fluorescence decay measurements of the lowest lying $^{3}{P}_{0,1}$ levels of neutral Yb atoms embedded in a solid Ne matrix. The solid Ne provides a simple way to trap a large number of atoms as well as an efficient mechanism for populating $^{3}{P}_{0}$. The decay rates in solid Ne are modified by medium effects including the index-of-refraction dependence. We find the $^{3}{P}_{0}$ hyperfine quenching rate to be $(4.42\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.35)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}1{0}^{\ensuremath{-}2}\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{s}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ for free $^{171}\mathrm{Yb}$, which agrees with recent ab initio calculations.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.113.033003

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We report the first experimental determination of the hyperfine quenching rate of the 6s2 1S0(F=1/2)\ensuremath−6s6p 3P0(F=1/2)6{s}^{2}\text{ }^{1}{S}_{0}(F=1/2)\ensuremath{-}6s6p\text{ }^{3}{P}_{0}(F=1/2)6s2 1S0​(F=1/2)\ensuremath−6s6p 3P0​(F=1/2) transition in 171Yb^{171}\mathrm{Yb}171Yb with nuclear spin I=1/2I=1/2I=1/2. This rate determines the natural linewidth and the Rabi frequency of the clock transition of a Yb optical frequency standard. Our technique involves spectrally resolved fluorescence decay measurements of the lowest lying 3P0,1^{3}{P}_{0,1}3P0,1​ levels of neutral Yb atoms embedded in a solid Ne matrix. The solid Ne provides a simple way to trap a large number of atoms as well as an efficient mechanism for populating 3P0^{3}{P}_{0}3P0​. The decay rates in solid Ne are modified by medium effects including the index-of-refraction dependence. We find the 3P0^{3}{P}_{0}3P0​ hyperfine quenching rate to be (4.42\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi0.35)\ifmmode×\else\texttimes\fi10\ensuremath−2  s\ensuremath−1(4.42\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.35)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}1{0}^{\ensuremath{-}2}\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{s}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}(4.42\ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi0.35)\ifmmode×\else\texttimes\fi10\ensuremath−2  s\ensuremath−1 for free 171Yb^{171}\mathrm{Yb}171Yb, which agrees with recent ab initio calculations.
We report the coherent excitation of the highly forbidden ^{2}S_{1/2}→^{2}F_{7/2} clock transition in the odd isotope ^{173}Yb^{+} with nuclear spin I=5/2, and reveal the hyperfine-state-dependent, nuclear-spin-induced quenching of this transition. The inferred lifetime of the F_{e}=4 hyperfine state is one order of magnitude shorter than the unperturbed ^{2}F_{7/2} clock state of ^{171}Yb^{+}. This reduced lifetime lowers the required optical power for coherent excitation of the clock transition, thereby reducing the ac Stark shift caused by the clock laser. Using a three-ion Coulomb crystal, we experimentally demonstrate an approximately twentyfold suppression of the ac Stark shift, a critical improvement for the scalability of future multi-ion Yb^{+} clocks. Furthermore, we report the |^{2}S_{1/2},F_{g}=3⟩→|^{2}F_{7/2},F_{e}=6⟩ unquenched reference transition frequency as 642.11917656354(43) THz, along with the measured hyperfine splitting and calculated quadratic Zeeman sensitivities of the ^{2}F_{7/2} clock state. Our results pave the way toward multi-ion optical clocks and quantum computers based on ^{173}Yb^{+}.
We report calculations assessing the ultimate precision of an atomic clock based on the 578 nm $6{}^{1}{S}_{0}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}6{}^{3}{P}_{0}$ transition in Yb atoms confined in an optical lattice trap. We find that this transition has a natural linewidth less than 10 mHz in the odd Yb isotopes, caused by hyperfine coupling. The shift in this transition due to the trapping light acting through the lowest order ac polarizability is found to become zero at the magic trap wavelength of about 752 nm. The effects of Rayleigh scattering, multipole polarizabilities, vector polarizability, and hyperfine induced electronic magnetic moments can all be held below 1 mHz (about one part in 1018).{10}^{18}).1018). In the case of the hyperpolarizability, however, larger shifts due to nearly resonant terms cannot be ruled out without an accurate measurement of the magic wavelength.
Hyperfine quenching rates of the lowest-energy metastable 3P0^{3}P_{0}3P0​ and 3P2^{3}P_{2}3P2​ states of Mg, Ca, Sr, and Yb atoms are computed. The calculations are carried out using ab initio relativistic many-body methods. The computed lifetimes may be useful for designing novel ultraprecise optical clocks and trapping experiments with the 3P2^{3}P_{2}3P2​ fermionic isotopes. The resulting natural widths of the $^{3}P_{0}\ensuremath{-}^{1}S_{0}$ clock transition are 0.44mHz0.44\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\text{mHz}0.44mHz for 25Mg^{25}\mathrm{Mg}25Mg, 2.2mHz2.2\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\text{mHz}2.2mHz for 43Ca^{43}\mathrm{Ca}43Ca, 7.6mHz7.6\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\text{mHz}7.6mHz for 87Sr^{87}\mathrm{Sr}87Sr, 43.5mHz43.5\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\text{mHz}43.5mHz for 171Yb^{171}\mathrm{Yb}171Yb, and 38.5mHz38.5\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\text{mHz}38.5mHz for 173Yb^{173}\mathrm{Yb}173Yb. Compared to the bosonic isotopes, the lifetime of the 3P2^{3}P_{2}3P2​ states in fermionic isotopes is noticeably shortened by the hyperfine quenching but still remains long enough for trapping experiments.
Observation of the 4f146s2 1S0−4f135d6s2(J=2)4f^{14}6s^{2}~^1S_0- 4f^{13}5d6s^{2}(J=2)4f146s2 1S0​−4f135d6s2(J=2) clock transition at 431 nm in 171^{171}171Yb
We report on the observation of the 4f146s2 1S0−4f135d6s2(J=2)4f^{14}6s^{2}~^1S_0- 4f^{13}5d6s^{2}(J=2)4f146s2 1S0​−4f135d6s2(J=2) transition at 431 nm in 171^{171}171Yb by depleting atoms in a magneto-optical trap formed by the 6s2 1S0−6s6p 3P16s^{2}~^1S_0-6s6p~^3P_16s2 1S0​−6s6p 3P1​ intercombination transition. The absolute frequency of the transition to the F=3/2F=3/2F=3/2 state is determined to be 695 171 054 858.1(8.2)695~171~054~858.1(8.2)695 171 054 858.1(8.2)~kHz against physical realization of Coordinated Universal Time maintained by the National Metrology Institute of Japan with a frequency comb. The ggg factor of the transition to the F=3/2F=3/2F=3/2 state and the A hyperfine constant are measured to be gJ=1.54(13)g_J=1.54(13)gJ​=1.54(13) and 1123.354(13)~MHz, respectively. More precise spectroscopy of this transition can lead to searches for time variation of the fine structure constant and searches for new physics with isotope shift measurements.
We report an experimental observation of the weak 'SO-~PO transition in 171,173Ybl and new approaches for qubits and optical clocks with this single-photon resonance and a three-photon resonance in an even isotope, respectively. Introduction - Optical clocks show great promise as the next generation of precision frequency standards due to the high frequency and correspondingly high line-Q of weakly allowed atomic transitions. Thanks to femtosecond comb technology (l), clocks based on optical transitions in both single trapped ions and neutral atom clouds are poised to exceed the already stringent bounds on precision set by microwave frequency standards. A recent proposal combining the Lamb-Dicke confinement of single ion frequency standards with the high signal-tenoise of neutral atom cLouds, and exploiting a highly forbidden transition insensitive to external magnetic fields and trap light polarization has the potential to do even better (2). The scheme makes use of the 'SO-~P~ electric dipole transition in alkaline-earth atoms, weakly allowed in odd isotopes by the hyperfine interaction of the nuclear spin and completely forbidden by a single-photon process in even isotopes. Trapping the atoms in a Stark-free optical httice will allow a large ensemble of atoms to exhibit a spectrum free of Doppler and recoil shifts, leading to an estimated accuracy of a few parts in lo1* (3, 41. As an additional application, the long atomic coherence times in optical lattices also suggest using the 'SO-~PO pairs of states as an array of qubits for quantum information (5, 61. Yb and Sr are both strong candidates for an optical lattice clock as well as for creating useful qubits. Both atoms have experimentally accessible energy level transitions, allowing the atoms to be readily laser-cooled and trapped, and in the case of Yb, Eose-Einstein condensed. While the Sr clock transition has been studied extensively, both in and out of an optical lattice, the same transition in Yb has thus far remained unexplored experimentally. Here we report the direct excitation of the 578 nm 'SO-~P~ transition in odd isotope 171,173Yb. (We understand that a group at NIST has also observed this transition (7)). We also discuss the possible application of this type of transitions in making qubits for quantum computation and a clock scheme based on three-photon transition in an even isotope (8, 91. - The level structure of Yb and the experimental apparatus are diagrammed in Fig. 1. The experiment is performed on a sample of cold atoms collected in a magneto- optical trap (MOT). To excite the clock transition, we shut off the MOT beams and irradiate the cloud of atoms with a 578 nm probe. JVe t,hen turn the MOT beams back on, continuously monitoring 399 nm fluorescence from the atom cloud. As the probe laser frequency is scanned over the dock transition, there is an observable decrease in MOT fluorescence as atoms are excited into the metastable 3Po state and escape the trap. By chopping trap and probe beams out of phase, we avoid light shifts of the clock transition due to near-resonant 399 nm light while maintaining a steady-state MOT population. The MOT fluorescence reduction of 171Yb is shown in Fig. 2 (a). Since iodine lines have been well measured in Observation of the 1So-3P, Transition in 1713173Yb
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