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Physical Review A

Lifetime measurements of the 4f145d metastable states in single ytterbium ions

Nan Yu, Lute Maleki

Published Jan 12, 2000• 58 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The ytterbium ion has a rich level structure of low-lying states, and is one of the most widely used in experiments with trapped ions. We have measured the radiative lifetimes for the two ${4f}^{14}5d$ metastable states using single ytterbium ions confined in a rf trap. The obtained lifetimes for ${D}_{3/2}$ and ${D}_{5/2}$ states are 52.7(2.4) and 7.0(0.4) ms, respectively. The results are in good agreement with previously measured values, but differ significantly from theoretical estimates. The ${P}_{1/2}$ branching ratio into ${D}_{3/2}$ has also been obtained from the experiment to be 0.0483 with a 9% uncertainty.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.61.022507

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The ytterbium ion has a rich level structure of low-lying states, and is one of the most widely used in experiments with trapped ions. We have measured the radiative lifetimes for the two 4f145d{4f}^{14}5d4f145d metastable states using single ytterbium ions confined in a rf trap. The obtained lifetimes for D3/2{D}_{3/2}D3/2​ and D5/2{D}_{5/2}D5/2​ states are 52.7(2.4) and 7.0(0.4) ms, respectively. The results are in good agreement with previously measured values, but differ significantly from theoretical estimates. The P1/2{P}_{1/2}P1/2​ branching ratio into D3/2{D}_{3/2}D3/2​ has also been obtained from the experiment to be 0.0483 with a 9% uncertainty.
The extremely long lifetimes of the metastable DDD states of the Ba+{\mathrm{Ba}}^{+}Ba+ ion make it difficult to measure them accurately due to their high sensitivity to collisional effects. Thus a discrepancy exists between theories and experiments for the Ba+{\mathrm{Ba}}^{+}Ba+ D3/2{D}_{3/2}D3/2​ state. We have measured the D3/2{D}_{3/2}D3/2​ lifetime under a nearly ideal condition, i.e., single trapped Ba+{\mathrm{Ba}}^{+}Ba+ ions in ultrahigh vacuum. The obtained value of $79.8\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}4.6\mathrm{s}$ resolves the existing discrepancy. The collisional quenching is found insignificant in our experiment, but there are indications of a non-negligible fine-structure mixing effect.
We present a precise measurement of the lifetime of the 6p 2P1/2o6p\text{ }{^{2}P}_{1/2}^{o}6p 2P1/2o​ excited state of a single trapped ytterbium ion (Yb+)({\text{Yb}}^{+})(Yb+). A time-correlated single-photon counting technique is used, where ultrafast pulses excite the ion and the emitted photons are coupled into a single-mode optical fiber. By performing the measurement on a single atom with fast excitation and excellent spatial filtering, we are able to eliminate common systematics. The lifetime of the 6p 2P1/2o6p\text{ }{^{2}P}_{1/2}^{o}6p 2P1/2o​ state is measured to be $8.12\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.02\text{ }\text{ns}$, in good agreement with previous experimental measurements and some theoretical values.
The suitability of the 411-nm ${}^{2}{S}_{1/2}{\ensuremath{-}}^{2}{D}_{5/2}$ transition in Yb+{\mathrm{Yb}}^{+}Yb+ is assessed as an optical frequency standard. The lifetime of the 2D5/2{}^{2}{D}_{5/2}2D5/2​ level has been measured and found to be 7.2\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.3 ms, which implies a natural linewidth of 22.2\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.9 Hz for the 411-nm transition. In addition to a decay to the ground state the 2D5/2{}^{2}{D}_{5/2}2D5/2​ level can decay into the highly metastable 2F7/2{}^{2}{F}_{7/2}2F7/2​ level where it is trapped. The branching ratio for decay into the 2F7/2{}^{2}{F}_{7/2}2F7/2​ level has been measured and found to be 0.83\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.03. A transition capable of rapidly depopulating the 2F7/2{}^{2}{F}_{7/2}2F7/2​ level and returning the ion to the cooling cycle has been demonstrated. This has enabled a quantum jump measurement of the 411-nm transition in 172Yb+{}^{172}{\mathrm{Yb}}^{+}172Yb+ to be performed, yielding a center frequency of 729 476 869.13(0.42) MHz (1\ensuremath{\sigma}).
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.
The radiative lifetime of the 1S0{}^{1}{S}_{0}1S0​ metastable state of Xe2+{\mathrm{Xe}}^{2+}Xe2+ has been measured with a different type of electrostatic ion trap. The ion trap stores ion beams of a few keV using purely electrostatic fields and provides a large field-free region where the stored ions oscillate. A photomultiplier working in the single-photon counting mode was used to observe the 380 nm photons arising from the magnetic dipole (M1)(M1)(M1) transition ${}^{1}{\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{{S}_{0}}}^{3}{P}_{1}$ of Xe2+.{\mathrm{Xe}}^{2+}.Xe2+. The present measurement yields a value of $4.46\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.08 \mathrm{ms},$ which is in good agreement with previous measurements, but is almost four times more accurate.
We report a measurement of the lifetime of the 3d2D5/23d{}^{2}{D}_{5/2}3d2D5/2​ metastable level in 40Ca+,{}^{40}{\mathrm{Ca}}^{+},40Ca+, using quantum jumps of a single cold calcium ion in a linear Paul trap. The 4s2S1/2−−3d2D5/24s{}^{2}{S}_{1/2}--3d{}^{2}{D}_{5/2}4s2S1/2​−−3d2D5/2​ transition is significant for single-ion optical frequency standards, astrophysical references, and tests of atomic structure calculations. We obtain $\ensuremath{\tau}=1.168\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.007$ s from observation of nearly 640006400064000 quantum jumps during $\ensuremath{\sim}32$ h. Our result is more precise and significantly larger than previous measurements. Experiments carried out to quantify systematic effects included a study of a previously unremarked source of systematic error, namely, excitation by the broad background of radiation emitted by a semiconductor diode laser. Combining our result with atomic structure calculations yields $1.20\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.01$ s for the lifetime of 3d2D3/2.3d{}^{2}{D}_{3/2}.3d2D3/2​. We also use quantum jump observations to demonstrate photon antibunching, and to estimate background pressure and heating rates in the ion trap.