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Quantum Electronics

Laser system for Doppler cooling of ytterbium ion in an optical frequency standard

S. V. Chepurov, A.A. Lugovoy, S N Kuznetsov

Published Jun 30, 2014• 3 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A laser system for Doppler cooling of ytterbium ion on the transition in a single-ion optical frequency standard is developed. The second harmonic of a semiconductor laser with a wavelength of is used for cooling. The laser frequency is doubled in a nonlinear BiBO crystal embedded in a ring resonator, which also serves as a reference for laser frequency stabilisation. Second-harmonic power of is generated at a wavelength of . Diode laser radiation is modulated by an electro-optic modulator at to generate a sideband exciting the hyperfine component of the cooling transition that is not excited by resonant cooling light. The sideband relative intensity of a few percent proved to be sufficient to reduce the ion dwelling time in the state to less than and increase the cooling efficiency.

DOI
10.1070/qe2014v044n06abeh015450

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A laser system for Doppler cooling of ytterbium ion on the transition in a single-ion optical frequency standard is developed. The second harmonic of a semiconductor laser with a wavelength of is used for cooling. The laser frequency is doubled in a nonlinear BiBO crystal embedded in a ring resonator, which also serves as a reference for laser frequency stabilisation. Second-harmonic power of is generated at a wavelength of . Diode laser radiation is modulated by an electro-optic modulator at to generate a sideband exciting the hyperfine component of the cooling transition that is not excited by resonant cooling light. The sideband relative intensity of a few percent proved to be sufficient to reduce the ion dwelling time in the state to less than and increase the cooling efficiency.
Optical frequency standards with the reference to a narrow electronic transition of a laser-cooled collection of neutral atomic particles are becoming essential tools of research in modern precision physics experiments. In the core of a building block of an optical frequency standard is the optical continuous wave laser that has a good spectral purity of the emitted light. Such a stable optical oscillator is highly desirable in high resolution spectroscopy, if it emits in a good quality beam at a short visible wavelength. This Master thesis explores efficient techniques for building such an optical frequency source intended for use in the cooling and trapping of Calcium atoms scheme. The strong dipole transition at the blue wavelength in the atomic Calcium is needed to reduce the kinetic energy of atoms by nearly six orders of magnitude. A further reduction in the thermal energy of the laser cooled atoms is required to locate with ultra-high precision the 400 Hz narrow clock transition of the stable 40Ca isotope. The experimental methods that achieve this and approach sub-microkelvin temperature of the laser cooled bosonic isotopes of alkaline earths are inspected. The blue laser with a uniform intensity distribution in the beam is useful to maintain the trapped number of cold atoms during these experiments. The spectroscopic properties of the relative transitions in Calcium atom are also reviewed following relevant publications in the area. The constructed blue laser can be used as a primary wavelength source in the lasers network for cooling and trapping of Calcium atoms. These experiments will constitute part of the project to build an optical atom clock referenced to 40Ca narrow linewidth transition. The blue laser is constructed by generating second harmonic in a Potassium Niobate crystal, which is temperature controlled to use a type-I noncritical phase-matching of the optical nonlinear process. The power of the intracavity-generated second harmonic depends on the resonance properties of the optical resonator where this nonlinear crystal is placed. The study is aimed at characterising the designed optical resonator and the experimental parameters that describe it. The formula is derived that relates the resonance power enhancement coefficient with finesse and the power coupling contrast of a passive optical cavity. The obtained relationship is verfied during the experiments. The produced efficiency of the intracavity second harmonic generation is approx. 0.0023 mWblue/(mWred)2. The research work also examines the noise characteristics of the infrared diode laser that is used as a pump source for the intracavity generated second harmonic and determines the spectroscopic precision of the produced blue light. The frequency locking experiment is analysed using the unbalanced scheme of the polarisation stabilisation technique. The designed optical buildup cavity became a part of the unbalanced frequency discriminator in such a scheme. The results demonstrate high gain of frequency noise suppression of the stabilised laser. The unbalanced arrangement of the H}ansch-Couillaud technique has been possible due to a very low amplitude noise of semiconductor lasers.
By measuring the frequencies emitted as atoms transition between energy levels, atomic frequency standards are among the most advanced devices available for keeping time. Here, we report our recent progress in developing an optical frequency standard based on a single171Yb+. With the laser Doppler cooling, a single ytterbium ion is cooled to crystallization and the temperature of the ion crystal is estimated to be below 1 mK. The progress reported in this paper is the first step of the project and paves the way for future development.
We demonstrate laser cooling of trapped beryllium ions at 313 nm using a frequency-doubled extended cavity diode laser operated at 626 nm, obtained by cooling a ridge waveguide diode laser chip to -31°C. Up to 32 mW of narrowband 626 nm laser radiation is obtained. After passage through an optical isolator and beam shaping optics, 14 mW of 626 nm power remains of which 70% is coupled into an external enhancement cavity containing a nonlinear crystal for second-harmonic generation. We produce up to 35 μW of 313 nm radiation, which is subsequently used to laser cool and detect 6×10(2) beryllium ions, stored in a linear Paul trap, to a temperature of about 10 mK, as evidenced by the formation of Coulomb crystals. Our setup offers a simple and affordable alternative for Doppler cooling, optical pumping, and detection to presently used laser systems.
Abstract Modern atomic clocks based on the interrogation of an atomic transitions in the optical regions require multiple lasers at different wavelength for producing atomic ions, trapping and laser cooling of neutral atoms or atomic ions. In order to achieve highest efficiency for laser cooling or any other atomic transition, frequencies of each of the lasers involved need to be stabilized by mitigating its drifts or fluctuations arise due to ambient temperature variation or other kind of perturbations. The present article describes simultaneous frequency stabilization of multiple number of lasers, required for production and laser cooling of ytterbium (171Yb) ions, to a reference transition frequency of rubidium (Rb) atoms. In this technique, a diode laser operating at ~ 780 nm is frequency stabilized to one of the Doppler broadening-free absorption peak of rubidium atoms (85Rb) and then used as a reference frequency for calibrating a wavelength meter and subsequent simultaneous frequency stabilization of four lasers operating at different wavelengths.