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Physical Review A

Magnetic trapping of Yb in the metastable 3P2 state

Kanhaiya Pandey, Ketan D. Rathod, Sambit Bikas Pal, Vasant Natarajan A

Published Mar 29, 2010• 9 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We report magnetic trapping of Yb in the excited ${}^{3}{P}_{2}$ state. This state, with a lifetime of 15 s, could play an important role in studies ranging from optical clocks and quantum computation to the search for a permanent electric dipole moment. Yb atoms are first cooled and trapped in the ground state in a 399-nm magneto-optic trap. The cold atoms are then pumped into the excited state by driving the ${}^{1}{S}_{0}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{}^{3}{P}_{1}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{}^{3}{S}_{1}$ transition. Atoms in the ${}^{3}{P}_{2}$ state are magnetically trapped in a spherical quadrupole field with an axial gradient of 110 G/cm. We trap up to ${10}^{6}$ atoms with a lifetime of 1.5 s.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.81.033424

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We report magnetic trapping of Yb in the excited 3P2{}^{3}{P}_{2}3P2​ state. This state, with a lifetime of 15 s, could play an important role in studies ranging from optical clocks and quantum computation to the search for a permanent electric dipole moment. Yb atoms are first cooled and trapped in the ground state in a 399-nm magneto-optic trap. The cold atoms are then pumped into the excited state by driving the 1S0\ensuremath→3P1\ensuremath→3S1{}^{1}{S}_{0}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{}^{3}{P}_{1}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{}^{3}{S}_{1}1S0​\ensuremath→3P1​\ensuremath→3S1​ transition. Atoms in the 3P2{}^{3}{P}_{2}3P2​ state are magnetically trapped in a spherical quadrupole field with an axial gradient of 110 G/cm. We trap up to 106{10}^{6}106 atoms with a lifetime of 1.5 s.
We report the magnetic trapping of metastable 3P2{}^{3}{P}_{2}3P2​ atomic strontium. Atoms are cooled in a magneto-optical trap (MOT) operating on the dipole-allowed ${}^{1}{S}_{0}{\ensuremath{-}}^{1}{P}_{1}$ transition at 461 nm. Decay via ${}^{1}{\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{{P}_{1}}}^{1}{\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{{D}_{2}}}^{3}{P}_{2}$ continuously loads a magnetic trap formed by the quadrupole magnetic field of the MOT. Over 108{10}^{8}108 atoms at a density of $8\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{9}{\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$ and temperature of 1 mK are trapped. The atom temperature is significantly lower than what would be expected from the kinetic and potential energies of atoms as they are transferred from the MOT. This suggests the occurrence of thermalization and evaporative cooling in the magnetic trap.
We demonstrate an accurate method for measuring the lifetime of long-lived metastable magnetic states using a magneto-optical trap (MOT). Through optical pumping, the metastable (3s3p) 3P1(3s3p)\text{ }{^{3}P}_{1}(3s3p) 3P1​ level is populated in a standard MOT. During the optical pumping process, a fraction of the population is captured in the magnetic quadrupole field of the MOT. When the metastable atoms decay to the (3s2) 1S0(3{s}^{2})\text{ }{^{1}S}_{0}(3s2) 1S0​ ground state they are recaptured into the MOT. In this system no alternative cascading transition is possible. The lifetime of the metastable level is measured directly as an exponential load time of the MOT. We have experimentally tested our method by measuring the lifetime of the (3s3p) 3P1(3s3p)\text{ }{^{3}P}_{1}(3s3p) 3P1​ of 24Mg^{24}\text{M}\text{g}24Mg. This lifetime has been measured numerous times previously, but with quite different results. Using our method we find the (3s3p) 3P1(3s3p)\text{ }{^{3}P}_{1}(3s3p) 3P1​ lifetime to be $(4.4\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.2)\text{ }\text{ms}$. Theoretical values point toward a lower value for the lifetime.
Laser excitation of the 4s4p3P2−−4s3d1D24s4p {}^{3}{P}_{2} -- 4s3d {}^{1}{D}_{2}4s4p3P2​−−4s3d1D2​ transition in atomic calcium has been observed and the wavelength determined to 1530.5298(6) nm. The metastable 4s4p3P24s4p {}^{3}{P}_{2}4s4p3P2​ atoms were magnetically trapped in the quadrupole magnetic field of a magneto-optical trap. This state represents the only ``loss'' channel for the calcium atoms when laser cooled on the 4s21S0−−4s4p1P14{s}^{2} {}^{1}{S}_{0} -- 4s4p {}^{1}{P}_{1}4s21S0​−−4s4p1P1​ transition. A rate equation model shows that an order of magnitude more atoms are trapped in this state compared with those taking part in the main cooling cycle. Excitation of the 3P2{}^{3}{P}_{2}3P2​ atoms back up to the 4s3d1D24s3d {}^{1}{D}_{2}4s3d1D2​ state provides a means of accessing these atoms. Efficient repumping is achieved if the 1530-nm laser is used in conjunction with a 672-nm laser driving the 4s3d1D2−−4s5p1P14s3d {}^{1}{D}_{2} -- 4s5p {}^{1}{P}_{1}4s3d1D2​−−4s5p1P1​ transition. In the present experiment, we detected about $4.5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{4}$ trapped 3P2{}^{3}{P}_{2}3P2​ atoms, a relatively low atom density, and measured a lifetime of approximately 1 s, which is limited by background collisions.
We report three-stage laser cooling of Sr atoms using the 5s21S05{s}^{2}\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}^{1}S_{0}5s21S0​ ground state and the 5s5p3P25s5p\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}^{3}P_{2}5s5p3P2​ metastable state. 87Sr^{87}\mathrm{Sr}87Sr atoms are precooled in a magneto-optical trap simultaneously operated on the 5s21S05{s}^{2}\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}^{1}S_{0}5s21S0​--5s5p1P15s5p\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}^{1}P_{1}5s5p1P1​ transition at 461 nm and on the 5s5p3P25s5p\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}^{3}P_{2}5s5p3P2​--5s5d3D35s5d\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}^{3}D_{3}5s5d3D3​ transition at 496 nm. Atoms optically pumped to the 5s5p3P2(F=13/2)5s5p\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}^{3}P_{2}(F=13/2)5s5p3P2​(F=13/2) state are magneto-optically trapped and cooled down to 2.5(2) $\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{K}$ on the 5s5p3P25s5p\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}^{3}P_{2}5s5p3P2​--5s4d3D35s4d\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}^{3}D_{3}5s4d3D3​ transition at $2.9\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{m}$. Using this transition, we investigate one dimensional polarization gradient cooling of 88Sr^{88}\mathrm{Sr}88Sr atoms, which have simple energy levels without hyperfine structure, down to 0.22(18) $\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{K}$ or 17 times the recoil temperature. We discuss prospects for continuous generation of ultracold Sr atoms combined with a state transfer technique.
Atomic ytterbium (Yb), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), and strontium (Sr) possess a simple yet versatile internal level structure and a diversity of naturally abundant fermionic and bosonic isotopes, making these systems ideal for studies of cold collisions and weakly interacting quantum degenerate gases. Unlike alkali-metal atoms, however, Yb, Mg, Ca, and Sr cannot be magnetically trapped in the ground state. We analyze a solution to this problem involving magnetic trapping in a low-lying metastable excited state and predict that significant magnetic trap populations can be obtained via continuous, in situ loading from Yb and Sr ${}^{1}{S}_{0}{\ensuremath{-}}^{1}{P}_{1}$ magneto-optical traps.
We present the observation of three semiforbidden transitions in singly ionized ytterbium from the metastable ^{2}F_{7/2}^{o} state. Owing to the long lifetimes of both the upper and lower states involved, these transitions are narrow and complement those already frequently used in this atom for quantum information and searches for new physics. We report the absolute frequencies of these electric quadrupole transitions, their isotope shifts, hyperfine structure, and measurements of the quadrupole transition moments. We find that the spontaneous lifetimes of these excited states are limited by slow magnetic dipole emission to lower-lying, odd-parity states, the lowest of which is accessible by laser excitation from ^{2}F_{7/2}^{o} and is an attractive candidate for hosting a long-lived qubit.