Research on the development of the optical frequency standard based on trapped and cold 40 Ca + with the 4s 2 S 1/2 -3d 2 D 5/2 clock transition at 729 nm is reported. A single calcium ion was trapped and laser cooled in the Paul trap and stay in trap for more than 15 days. The linewidth of a 729 nm laser was reduced to less than 10 Hz by locking to a cavity for longer than 50 hours uninterruptedly. The overall systematic uncertainty of the clock transition has been characterized to be better than 6.5×10 −16 . The absolute frequency of the clock transition was measured at 10 −15 level using an optical frequency comb referenced to a Hydrogen maser, which was calibrated to the SI second through the global positioning system (GPS). The frequency value was 411042129776393.0(1.6) Hz after the correction of the systematic shifts.
Summary form only given. Among the ions proposed for a frequency standard in the optical domain, Ca/sup +/ is one of the most favorable candidates due to its wavelengths accessible with all-solid-state laser systems. This allows to imagine an ultimate experimental setup being simple and compact. The 4S/sub 1/2/-3D/sub 5/2/ electric quadrupole transition at 729 nm with a natural linewidth below 1 Hz serves as clock transition, while laser cooling on one of the resonance lines is carried out at 397 nm. To obtain the small spectral linewidths necessary for a frequency standard performance, it is essential to reduce the residual Doppler broadening caused by the RF heating in the Paul trap. The first-order Doppler broadening of a single ion can be eliminated in the Lamb-Dicke regime where the ion's amplitude of motion is inferior to the emitted wavelength. The main condition for the access of this frequency modulation regime is a high motional frequency of the trapped ion. This is more easily obtained in a low capacitance device and thus traps with reduced dimensions are required. We have set up a miniature ion trap of the Paul-Straubel-type. The stored ions are observed by a photomultiplier in the photon-counting mode as well as by an intensified CCD camera, permitting the visualization of their spatial behavior. Laser cooling of the Ca/sup +/ ions is carried out on the 4S/sub 1/2/-4P/sup 1/2/ resonance line at 397 nm. Progress on the characterization of the trapped single ion as well as on the generation of the involved wavelengths exclusively by solid-state lasers is reported.
The experimental study at Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics (WIPM), Chinese Academy of Scienses (CAS) on the precision spetroscopy based on single trapped Ca+ ion is described in this paper. A single Ca+ ion is trapped in a miniature Paul trap and laser cooled to Lamb-Dicke regime, and the ion can be trapped more than 2 months. The linewidth of the 729 nm laser for probing the Ca+ 4s2S1/2-3d2D5/2 clock transition is reduced to lessthan 1 Hz by locked to a super cavity, and the 729 nm laser can be locked more than 1 month continuously. Two similar Ca + ion optical frequency standards are set up for frequency comparison. The systematic uncertainty is evaluated to be <6 ´ 10−17 for both ftrquency standards. The frequency difference of two frequency standards is measured to be 3.0 (5.5) ´ 10−17 within 42 d. The Allan deviation for a single clock is measured to be 1×10−14τ−1/2 with a 3-d-continuous comparison, the stability for a reaches 7 ´ 10−17 at an averaging time of 20000 s. Meanwhile, the absolute frequency of the Ca+ 4s2S1/2-3d2D5/2 clock transition is measured to be 411042129776401.7(1.1) Hz with respect to the SI second through the Global Positioning System (GPSx). The precision spectroscopy experiments are carried out based on the single Ca+ ion system. The magic wavelengths for the Ca+ optical frequency standardare measured to be λ|mj|=1/2=395.7992(7) nm and λ|mj|=3/2=395.7990(7) nm, which agrees with theoretical calculation made by Tang et al. The lifetime of the 3d2D5/2 is measured to be 1174(10) ms, which is agree with the experimental measurement made by University of Oxford and University of Innsbruck and the recent theoretical calculation made by Sahoo.
We report sympathetic cooling of
113Cd
+ by laser-cooled
40Ca
+ in a linear Paul trap for microwave clocks. Long-term low-temperature confinement of
113Cd
+ ions was achieved. The temperature of these ions was measured at
90(10) mK, and the corresponding uncertainty arising from the second-order Doppler shifts was estimated to a level of
2×10−17. Up to
4.2×105 Cd
+ ions were confined in the trap, and the confinement time constant was measured to be 84 hours. After three hours of confinement, there were still
105 Cd
+ ions present, indicating that this Ca
+--Cd
+ dual ion system is surprisingly stable. The ac Stark shift was induced by the Ca
+ lasers and fluorescence, which was carefully estimated to an accuracy of
5.4(0.5)×10−17 using a high-accuracy \textit{ab initio} approach. The Dick-effect-limited Allan deviation was also deduced because deadtimes were shorter. These results indicate that a microwave clock based on this sympathetic cooling scheme holds promise in providing ultra-high frequency accuracy and stability.