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arXiv:2603.04250 · Physical Review A

Long-lived metastable states in the 4f$^{13}$5d6s configuration of Yb$^+$

Z. E. D. Ackerman, A. Cadarso Quevedo, Ilango Maran, L. P. H. Gallagher, R. J. C. Spreeuw, J. C. Berengut, R. Gerritsma

physics.atom-phquant-phSubmitted Mar 4, 2026• Announced Mar 5, 2026• 1 citation
v1 · Mar 4, 2026v2 · Jun 19, 2026
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Abstract

We study the occurrence of long-lived metastable states in the 4f$^{13}$5d6s electron configuration of Yb$^+$. By optical pumping of a single trapped ion on the $^2F^\text{o}_{7/2}\rightarrow (7/2,0)_{7/2}$ transition at 377.5 nm, we prepare a wide range of metastable electronic states. We use a co-trapped control ion to sympathetically cool the spectroscopy ion, allowing us to accurately time its subsequent decay. We record a strong decay signal corresponding to a lifetime of 0.92(8) s, a weaker decay signal with lifetime 9.8(+2.9, -2.0) s, and find evidence for a much longer lifetime, $>$ 30 s. We identify the metastable states with these lifetimes qualitatively, and corroborate our results with atomic structure calculations that support the observed lifetimes and decay paths. These long-lived states provide new opportunities in qubit and qudit state detection and optical clocks.

Journal reference
Phys. Rev. A 113, 062811 (2026)
DOI
10.1103/pjf5-r82f
Comments
8 pages, 5 figures

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Long-lived metastable states in the 4f$^{13}5d6sconfigurationofYb5d6s configuration of Yb5d6sconfigurationofYb^+$
We study the occurrence of long-lived metastable states in the 4f13^{13}135d6s electron configuration of Yb+^++. By optical pumping of a single trapped ion on the 2F7/2o→(7/2,0)7/2^2F^\text{o}_{7/2}\rightarrow (7/2,0)_{7/2}2F7/2o​→(7/2,0)7/2​ transition at 377.5 nm, we prepare a wide range of metastable electronic states. We use a co-trapped control ion to sympathetically cool the spectroscopy ion, allowing us to accurately time its subsequent decay. We record a strong decay signal corresponding to a lifetime of 0.92(8) s, a weaker decay signal with lifetime 9.8(+2.9, -2.0) s, and find evidence for a much longer lifetime, >>> 30 s. We identify the metastable states with these lifetimes qualitatively, and corroborate our results with atomic structure calculations that support the observed lifetimes and decay paths. These long-lived states provide new opportunities in qubit and qudit state detection and optical clocks.
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The natural lifetime of the metastable 4d2D5∕24d\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}^{2}D_{5∕2}4d2D5∕2​ state in 88Sr+^{88}\mathrm{Sr}^{+}88Sr+ has been measured using a single laser-cooled, trapped ion. The ion was prepared in the 4d2D5∕24d\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}^{2}D_{5∕2}4d2D5∕2​ state by laser excitation of the $5s\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}^{2}S_{1∕2}\ensuremath{-}4d\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}^{2}D_{5∕2}$ quadrupole transition at 674 nm. The decay time was measured by using Dehmelt's electron shelving method to monitor the ion's electronic state. Two separate investigations were conducted under slightly different experimental conditions. 160 000 decay times from the 4d2D5∕24d\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}^{2}D_{5∕2}4d2D5∕2​ state were observed in total, and two different methods for determining the statistical value of the measured lifetime have been compared. Systematic effects have also been estimated, and including these effects yields a value of $\ensuremath{\tau}=390.8(1.6)\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{ms}$ ($1\ensuremath{\sigma}$ uncertainty) for the natural lifetime.
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