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arXiv:1908.03350 · Physical Review A

Hyperfine constants and line separations for the S01−P13 intercombination line in neutral ytterbium with sub-Doppler resolution

Peggy E. Atkinson, J. Schelfhout, John J. McFerran

Published Oct 14, 2019• 20 citations
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Abstract

Optical frequency measurements of the intercombination line $(6{s}^{2})\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}^{1}S_{0}\ensuremath{-}(6s6p)\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}^{3}P_{1}$ in the isotopes of ytterbium are carried out with the use of sub-Doppler fluorescence spectroscopy on an atomic beam. A dispersive signal is generated to which a master laser is locked, while frequency counting of an auxiliary beat signal is performed via a frequency comb referenced to a hydrogen maser. The relative separations between the lines are used to evaluate the $^{3}P_{1}$-level magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole constants for the fermionic isotopes. The center of gravity for the $^{3}P_{1}$ levels in $^{171}\mathrm{Yb}$ and $^{173}\mathrm{Yb}$ are also evaluated, where we find significant disagreement with previously reported values. These hyperfine constants provide a valuable testbed for atomic many-body computations in ytterbium.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.100.042505

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Optical frequency measurements of the intercombination line (6s2)1S0\ensuremath−(6s6p)3P1(6{s}^{2})\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}^{1}S_{0}\ensuremath{-}(6s6p)\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}^{3}P_{1}(6s2)1S0​\ensuremath−(6s6p)3P1​ in the isotopes of ytterbium are carried out with the use of sub-Doppler fluorescence spectroscopy on an atomic beam. A dispersive signal is generated to which a master laser is locked, while frequency counting of an auxiliary beat signal is performed via a frequency comb referenced to a hydrogen maser. The relative separations between the lines are used to evaluate the 3P1^{3}P_{1}3P1​-level magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole constants for the fermionic isotopes. The center of gravity for the 3P1^{3}P_{1}3P1​ levels in 171Yb^{171}\mathrm{Yb}171Yb and 173Yb^{173}\mathrm{Yb}173Yb are also evaluated, where we find significant disagreement with previously reported values. These hyperfine constants provide a valuable testbed for atomic many-body computations in ytterbium.
We calculate and measure the magic wavelengths for the $6{s}^{2}^{1}S_{0}\ensuremath{-}6s6p\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}^{3}P_{1}$ intercombination transition of the neutral ytterbium atom. The calculation is performed with the ab initio configuration interaction +++ all-order method. The measurement is done with laser spectroscopy on cold atoms in an optical dipole trap. The magic wavelengths are determined to be 1035.68(4) nm for the $\ensuremath{\pi}$ transition $(\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}m=0)$ and 1036.12(3) nm for the $\ensuremath{\sigma}$ transitions $(|\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}m|=1)$ in agreement with the calculated values. Laser cooling on the narrow intercombination transition could achieve better results for atoms in an optical dipole trap when the trap wavelength is tuned to near the magic wavelength.
The hyperfine transitions in the 399 nm ${^{1}S}_{0}\ensuremath{\leftrightarrow}{^{1}P}_{1}$ line in 173Yb^{173}\text{Y}\text{b}173Yb overlap with the transition in 172Yb^{172}\text{Y}\text{b}172Yb. We use transverse laser cooling on this line to selectively deflect 173Yb^{173}\text{Y}\text{b}173Yb atoms from a thermal beam containing both isotopes. We then use an acousto-optic modulator to span the frequency difference between the hyperfine transitions, and hence measure hyperfine structure in the 1P1{^{1}P}_{1}1P1​ state. Our precise values for the hyperfine constants, ${A}_{173}=57.693\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.006\text{ }\text{MHz}$ and ${B}_{173}=609.028\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.056\text{ }\text{MHz}$, improve previous values significantly.
Anomalous saturated absorption providing a stable laser lock for 171^{171}171Yb laser cooling
We identify an inverted Lamb dip in the saturated absorption spectroscopy of the (6s2)(6s^{2})(6s2) 1S0^{1}S_{0}1S0​ −-− (6s6p)(6s6p)(6s6p) 3P1^{3}P_{1}3P1​ transition in 171^{171}171Yb. The signal has only been observed with the two hyperfine lines of this spin I=12I=\frac{1}{2}I=21​ isotope. For both lines the application of a dc magnetic field transforms a two-level scheme into a four-level scheme, with degeneracy only marginally lifted in the ground state. The atoms are excited through π\piπ transitions, while the de-excitation process completes a simple optical pumping scheme. However, the full explanation of the enhanced absorption is yet to be determined. The anomalous absorption signal is used to generate a dispersive curve for 556 nm laser stabilisation and the stabilised light cools 171^{171}171Yb atoms in a two-stage magneto-optical trap, achieving temperatures below 50 μ\muμK. The Doppler-free spectroscopy scheme is further used to measure isotopic frequency shifts and hyperfine separations for the intercombination line in Yb.
We report the magneto-optical trapping of ytterbium atoms using the ${6s}^{2}{}^{1}{S}_{0}\ensuremath{-}6s6p{}^{3}{P}_{1}$ intercombination transition. The magneto-optical trap is continuously loaded from an atomic beam decelerated by a Zeeman-tuned atomic-beam slower operated at the ${6s}^{2}{}^{1}{S}_{0}\ensuremath{-}6s6p{}^{1}{P}_{1}$ transition. Among seven stable isotopes of ytterbium, six isotopes of170Yb,\mathrm{of}{ }^{170}\mathrm{Y}\mathrm{b},of170Yb, 171Yb,{}^{171}\mathrm{Yb},171Yb, 172Yb,{}^{172}\mathrm{Yb},172Yb, 173Yb,{}^{173}\mathrm{Yb},173Yb, 174Yb,{}^{174}\mathrm{Yb},174Yb, and 176Yb{}^{176}\mathrm{Yb}176Yb are successfully trapped. The number and density of the trapped atoms are about 108{10}^{8}108 and ${10}^{11} {\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}3},$ respectively. The temperature of atoms is estimated to be about $20 \ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{K}$ from the time-of-flight measurement. The decay time of the trapped atoms after stopping the loading of atoms is about 3 s.
We demonstrate that laser cooling, combined with VVV-scheme optical double-resonance spectroscopy, provides a sensitive means to measure isotope shifts and hyperfine splittings. Our technique is illustrated using the 398.8-nm ${(6s}^{2}{)}^{1}{S}_{0}{\ensuremath{-}(6s6p)}^{1}{P}_{1}$ and 555.6-nm ${(6s}^{2}{)}^{1}{S}_{0}{\ensuremath{-}(6s6p)}^{3}{P}_{1}$ transitions in a neutral ytterbium atomic beam having natural isotopic composition. With a precision comparable to existing approaches, our unique method has enabled the most complete single-technique survey to date of the ${}^{1}{S}_{0}{\ensuremath{-}}^{1}{P}_{1}$ isotope shifts and hyperfine splittings.
We have measured and analyzed the hyperfine structure of two lines, one at 583 nm and one at 401 nm, of the only stable fermionic isotope of atomic erbium as well as determined its isotope shift relative to the four most-abundant bosonic isotopes. Our work focuses on the $J\ensuremath{\rightarrow}J+1$ laser cooling transitions from the [Xe]4f126s2(3H6)[\text{Xe}]4{f}^{12}6{s}^{2}{(}^{3}{H}_{6})[Xe]4f126s2(3H6​) ground state to two levels of the excited [Xe]4f126s6p[\text{Xe}]4{f}^{12}6s6p[Xe]4f126s6p configuration, which are of major interest for experiments on quantum degenerate dipolar Fermi gases. From a fit to the observed spectra of the strong optical transition at 401 nm we find that the magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole hyperfine constants for the excited state are ${A}_{e}/h=\ensuremath{-}100.1(3)\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\mathrm{MHz}$ and ${B}_{e}/h=\ensuremath{-}3079(30)\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\mathrm{MHz}$, respectively. The hyperfine spectrum of the narrow transition at 583 nm, was previously observed and accurate Ae{A}_{e}Ae​ and Be{B}_{e}Be​ coefficients are available. A simulated spectrum based on these coefficients agrees well with our measurements. We have also determined the hyperfine constants using relativistic configuration-interaction ab initio calculations. The agreement between the ab initio and fitted data for the ground state is better than 0.1%, while for the two excited states the agreement is 1% and 11% for the Ae{A}_{e}Ae​ and Be{B}_{e}Be​ constants, respectively.