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arXiv:2404.16765

Threshold and frequency properties of a cold ytterbium laser

Dmitriy Sholokhov, Saran Shaju, Ke Li, Simon B. Jäger, Jürgen Eschner

Published Apr 25, 2024• 1 citation
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Abstract

We investigate properties of the lasing action observed on the 1S0--3P1 intercombination transition of ytterbium atoms that are laser-cooled and -trapped inside a high-finesse cavity. The dressing of the atomic states on the 1S0--1P1 transition by the magneto-optical trap (MOT) laser light allows the coupled atom-cavity system to lase, via a two-photon transition, on the same line on which it is pumped. The observation and basic description of this phenomenon was presented earlier by Gothe et al. [Phys. Rev. A 99, 013415 (2019)]. In the current work, we focus on a detailed analysis of the lasing threshold and frequency properties and perform a comparison to our theoretical models.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2404.16765

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We investigate properties of the lasing action observed on the 1S0--3P1 intercombination transition of ytterbium atoms that are laser-cooled and -trapped inside a high-finesse cavity. The dressing of the atomic states on the 1S0--1P1 transition by the magneto-optical trap (MOT) laser light allows the coupled atom-cavity system to lase, via a two-photon transition, on the same line on which it is pumped. The observation and basic description of this phenomenon was presented earlier by Gothe et al. [Phys. Rev. A 99, 013415 (2019)]. In the current work, we focus on a detailed analysis of the lasing threshold and frequency properties and perform a comparison to our theoretical models.
A few million ytterbium atoms are magneto-optically trapped inside a 5 cm long high-finesse cavity and laterally pumped close to resonance with the narrow 1^11S0_00​ →\to→ 3^33P1_11​ line. Frequency-shifted cavity emission on the same transition is observed and is found to require a threshold pump intensity and atom number; moreover, the emitted light shows a flat g(2)g^{(2)}g(2) correlation function. These facts indicate lasing action via a two-photon process including the trap light, related to effects previously found in cold Rubidium clouds, but also pronouncedly different. We characterize the conditions and properties of this process and present a model.
While conventional lasers are based on gain media with three or four real levels, unconventional lasers including virtual levels and two-photon processes offer new opportunities. We study lasing that involves a two-photon process through a virtual lower level, which we realize in a cloud of cold ytterbium atoms that are magneto-optically trapped inside a cavity. We pump the atoms on the narrow $^{1}S_{0}\ensuremath{\leftrightarrow}^{3}P_{1}$ line and generate laser emission on the same transition. Lasing is verified by a threshold behavior of output power vs pump power and atom number, a flat g(2){g}^{(2)}g(2)-correlation function above threshold, and the polarization properties of the output. In the proposed lasing mechanism the trapping beams create the virtual lower level of the lasing transition. The laser process runs continuously, needs no further repumping, and might be adapted to other atoms or transitions such as the ultranarrow $^{1}S_{0}\ensuremath{\leftrightarrow}^{3}P_{0}$ clock transition in ytterbium.
The interaction of laser cooled atoms with resonant light is determined by the natural linewidth of the excited state. An optical cavity is another optically resonant system where the loss from the cavity determines the resonant optical response of the system. The near resonant combination of an optical Fabry-Pérot cavity with laser cooled and trapped atoms couples two distinct optical resonators via light and has great potential for precision measurements and the creation of versatile quantum optics systems. Here we show how driven magneto-optically trapped atoms in collective strong coupling regime with the cavity leads to lasing at a frequency red detuned from the atomic transition. Lasing is demonstrated experimentally by the observation of a lasing threshold accompanied by polarization and spatial mode purity, and line-narrowing in the outcoupled light. Spontaneous emission into the cavity mode by the driven atoms stimulates lasing action, which is capable of operating as a continuous wave laser in steady state, without a seed laser. The system is modeled theoretically, and qualitative agreement with experimentally observed lasing is seen. Our result opens up a range of new measurement possibilities with this system.
We report the magneto-optical trapping of ytterbium atoms using the 6s2 1S0-6s6p 3P1 intercombination transition. The magneto-optical trap is continuously loaded from an atomic beam decelerated by a Zeeman-tuned atomic-beam slower operated at the 6s2 1S0-6s6p 1P1 transition. Among seven stable isotopes of ytterbium, six isotopes of 170Yb, 171Yb, 172Yb, 173Yb, 174Yb, and 176Yb are successfully trapped. The number and density of the trapped atoms are about 108 and 1011 cm-3, respectively. The temperature of atoms is estimated to be about 20 μK from the time-of-flight measurement. The decay time of the trapped atoms after stopping the loading of atoms is about 3 s.
We report laser cooling and trapping of ytterbium atoms in a two-color magneto-optical trap (MOT). Benefited from both the broad singlet transition (1S0→1P1^1\text{S}_0\rightarrow {}^1\text{P}_11S0​→1P1​) and the narrow intercombination transition (1S0→3P1^1\text{S}_0\rightarrow {}^3\text{P}_11S0​→3P1​) of ytterbium atoms, the two-color MOT enables rapid loading and efficient cooling. We systematically investigate the shielding effect of the intercombination transition by examining the atom loading and loss rates of single-color and two-color MOTs. Our findings are general and can be extended to other alkaline earth(-like) atoms.
A cold atomic gas with an inverted population on a transition coupled to a field mode of an optical resonator constitutes a generic model of a laser. For quasi-continuous operation, external pumping, trapping and cooling of the atoms is required to confine them in order to achieve enough gain inside the resonator. As inverted atoms are high-field seekers in blue detuned light fields, tuning the cavity mode to the blue side of the atomic gain transition allows for combining lasing with stimulated cavity cooling and dipole trapping of the atoms at the antinodes of the laser field. We study such a configuration using a semiclassical description of particle motion along the cavity axis. In extension of earlier work we include free space atomic and cavity decay as well as atomic dipole-dipole interactions and their corresponding forces. We show that for a proper choice of parameters even in the bad cavity limit the atoms can create a sufficiently strong field inside the resonator such that they are trapped and cooled via the superradiant lasing action with less than one photon on average inside the cavity.