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Physical Review A

Laser cooling of trapped ytterbium ions using a four-level optical-excitation scheme

A.S. Bell, Patrick Robert Gill, Hugh A. Klein, Andrew P. Levick, Chr. Tamm, D. Schnier

Published Jul 1, 1991• 76 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We demonstrate laser cooling of $^{172}\mathrm{Yb}^{+}$ ions in a rf quadrupole trap using an alternative optical-excitation scheme. The metastable 4${\mathit{f}}^{14}$5${\mathit{d}}^{2}$${\mathit{D}}_{3/2}$ state of ${\mathrm{Yb}}^{+}$, to which ions decay if the resonance (cooling) transition is driven, is depleted by driving an optical transition at a wavelength of 935 nm, which is much more attractive than the 2.438 \ensuremath{\mu}m radiation used previously. This couples the metastable state to a fourth energy level from which the ions decay rapidly to the ground state. Fluorescence line shapes of the cooling transition indicate that small numbers of ${\mathrm{Yb}}^{+}$ ions were cooled in this way to kinetic temperatures below 1 K.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.44.r20

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European Quantum Electronics Conference (EQEC)•Aug 24, 2005•2 citations
We demonstrate laser cooling of 172Yb+^{172}\mathrm{Yb}^{+}172Yb+ ions in a rf quadrupole trap using an alternative optical-excitation scheme. The metastable 4f14{\mathit{f}}^{14}f145{\mathit{d}}^{2}$${\mathit{D}}_{3/2} state of Yb+{\mathrm{Yb}}^{+}Yb+, to which ions decay if the resonance (cooling) transition is driven, is depleted by driving an optical transition at a wavelength of 935 nm, which is much more attractive than the 2.438 \ensuremath{\mu}m radiation used previously. This couples the metastable state to a fourth energy level from which the ions decay rapidly to the ground state. Fluorescence line shapes of the cooling transition indicate that small numbers of Yb+{\mathrm{Yb}}^{+}Yb+ ions were cooled in this way to kinetic temperatures below 1 K.
A single Sr+ atom was confined in a radio-frequency quadrupole trap and laser cooled with resonant laser light. Examination of the transition Doppler profile indicated an ion kinetic temperature of less than 500 mK. Quantum jumps into and out of the metastable 4d(2)D(5/2) level were observed by laser excitation on the electric-quadrupole-allowed transition from the ground state at 674 nm. The dark and bright periods in the strong fluorescence showed variations owing to the applied driving field on the electric-quadrupole transition. These results provide an improved determination of tau = 372 +/- 25 msec for the natural metastable-state lifetime.
The paper reports experimental investigations on 171 Yb ions confined in a radiofrequency Paul trap. Single ions are cooled and optically detected by laser excitation of the cycling F = 1 – F = 0 hyperfine component of the 2 S 1/2 – 2 P 1/2 resonance transition. The metastable 2 D 3/2 ( F = 1) level which is rapidly populated by decay from the 2 P 1/2 level is depleted by a second laser source. The resonance fluorescence signal exhibits dark periods due to a small rate of spontaneous transitions to the 2 D 3/2 ( F = 2) level which is coupled only weakly to the laser-cooling excitation cycle. Prospects for an optical frequency standard based on excitation of the narrow 2 S 1/2 ( F = 0) – 2 D 3/2 ( F = 2) transition of 171 Yb + at a wavelength of 435 nm are discussed.
We demonstrate laser cooling of single174Yb+ions stored in a rf trap. Single174Yb+ions were loaded using a natural isotope mixture as source. To locate a single ion at the center of the trap, and consequently, to minimize the micromotion caused by the rf driving field, we introduced two compensation electrodes and applied dc voltages to them and to one of the endcap electrodes. We estimated the temperature of a trapped single174Yb+ion to be 150 mK from the residual Doppler width of the spectra observed by a frequency sweep of the cooling laser. In the estimation, the saturation broadening in the spectra was substituted by measurement of the power dependence of the spectral width. To count the number of trapped174Yb+ions, we detected sudden drops in the fluorescence intensity (quantum jumps) of individual ions caused by pumping to and deexcitation of the2F7/2state. We found that deexcitation of the2F7/2state is possible by driving the2F7/2–1D[3/2]3/2transition at 760 nm and the2F7/2–3D[9/2]7/2transition at 828 nm, in addition to the former methods of driving the2F7/2–1D[5/2]5/2transition at 639 nm and the2F7/2–2D5/2transition at 3.43 µm.
We report isotope-selective loading and trapping of doubly ionized ytterbium into an rf quadrupole trap. Isotopically pure clouds of 174Yb^{174}\mathrm{Yb}174Yb+{}^{+}+ ions were first loaded into the rf trap via a multistage photoionization process. The Yb2+{}^{2+}2+ ions were then produced by electron impact ionization of the trapped Yb+{}^{+}+ ions. The Yb2+{}^{2+}2+ ions were subsequently detected by rf excitation of their secular motion in the trap, which led to sympathetic heating and changes in the fluorescence of the laser-cooled Yb+{}^{+}+ ions. The presence of doubly charged Yb ions was further verified by the appearance of a dark band in the center of Yb+{}^{+}+ ion cloud after electron impact ionization. We discuss the possible formation of Yb2+{}^{2+}2+H and similar compounds and the schemes for the direct optical detection of the Yb2+{}^{2+}2+ ions.
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.
We performed laser spectroscopy of In+{\mathrm{In}}^{+}In+ ions stored in a radio-frequency trap. The 5s2{\mathit{s}}^{2}s2 1^{1}1S0{\mathit{S}}_{0}S0​\ensuremath{\rightarrow}5s5p 3^{3}3P1{\mathit{P}}_{1}P1​ transition at 230.6 nm was excited and its hyperfine splitting and isotope shift have been measured. The lifetime of the 3^{3}3P1{\mathit{P}}_{1}P1​ state was measured using intensity modulated laser excitation: \ensuremath{\tau}(3{(}^{3}(3P1{\mathit{P}}_{1}P1​)=0.44(4) \ensuremath{\mu}s. A single indium ion was laser cooled using this intercombination line and dark periods in the fluorescence were observed when the metastable 3^{3}3P0{\mathit{P}}_{0}P0​ state was populated by a magnetic dipole decay from 3^{3}3P1{\mathit{P}}_{1}P1​. The radiative lifetime of the forbidden transition 3^{3}3P0{\mathit{P}}_{0}P0​${\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}^{1}$S0{\mathit{S}}_{0}S0​ was determined from the duration of the dark periods: \ensuremath{\tau}(3{(}^{3}(3P0{\mathit{P}}_{0}P0​)=0.14(2) s. This value is compared to calculations based on perturbation theory. Prospects for an optical frequency standard using the narrow 5s2{\mathit{s}}^{2}s2 1^{1}1S0{\mathit{S}}_{0}S0​\ensuremath{\rightarrow}5s5p 3^{3}3P0{\mathit{P}}_{0}P0​ resonance at 236.5 nm of a single laser-cooled indium ion are discussed.