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Physical Review A

Production of YbH+ by chemical reaction of Yb+ in excited states with H2 gas

Kazuhiko Sugiyama, Jun Yoda

Published Jan 1, 1997• 291 citations
Publisher

Abstract

It is known that fluorescence of trapped ${\mathrm{Yb}}^{+}$ ions fades with continuous driving of the $^{2}$ ${\mathrm{S}}_{1\mathrm{/}2}$${\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}}^{2}$${\mathrm{P}}_{1\mathrm{/}2}$ transition in the presence of buffer gases. This phenomenon has been interpreted as being caused by population trapping in the $^{2}$ ${\mathrm{F}}_{7\mathrm{/}2}$ state of ${\mathrm{Yb}}^{+}$ . As another cause of the fluorescence disappearance, we found the production of ${\mathrm{YbH}}^{+}$ by chemical reaction of ${\mathrm{Yb}}^{+}$ in excited states with ${\mathrm{H}}_{2}$ gas. We found that the wavelengths of 369.482, 369.202, and 368.947 nm, formerly assigned as wavelengths for deexcitation of ${\mathrm{Yb}}^{+}$ in the $^{2}$ ${\mathrm{F}}_{7\mathrm{/}2}$ state to the $^{2}$ ${\mathrm{S}}_{1\mathrm{/}2}$ ground state, are actually photodissociation lines of ${\mathrm{YbH}}^{+}$ . The change of the resonance point of rf resonance absorption signals indicates the production and dissociation of ${\mathrm{YbH}}^{+}$ ions. The production of ${\mathrm{YbH}}^{+}$ may be a problem in establishing frequency standards using buffer-gas-cooled ${\mathrm{Yb}}^{+}$ , owing to difficulty in removing ${\mathrm{H}}_{2}$ gas from vacuum systems.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.55.r10

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It is known that fluorescence of trapped Yb+{\mathrm{Yb}}^{+}Yb+ ions fades with continuous driving of the 2^{2}2 {\mathrm{S}}_{1\mathrm{/}2}$${\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}}^{2}$${\mathrm{P}}_{1\mathrm{/}2} transition in the presence of buffer gases. This phenomenon has been interpreted as being caused by population trapping in the 2^{2}2 F7/2{\mathrm{F}}_{7\mathrm{/}2}F7/2​ state of Yb+{\mathrm{Yb}}^{+}Yb+ . As another cause of the fluorescence disappearance, we found the production of YbH+{\mathrm{YbH}}^{+}YbH+ by chemical reaction of Yb+{\mathrm{Yb}}^{+}Yb+ in excited states with H2{\mathrm{H}}_{2}H2​ gas. We found that the wavelengths of 369.482, 369.202, and 368.947 nm, formerly assigned as wavelengths for deexcitation of Yb+{\mathrm{Yb}}^{+}Yb+ in the 2^{2}2 F7/2{\mathrm{F}}_{7\mathrm{/}2}F7/2​ state to the 2^{2}2 S1/2{\mathrm{S}}_{1\mathrm{/}2}S1/2​ ground state, are actually photodissociation lines of YbH+{\mathrm{YbH}}^{+}YbH+ . The change of the resonance point of rf resonance absorption signals indicates the production and dissociation of YbH+{\mathrm{YbH}}^{+}YbH+ ions. The production of YbH+{\mathrm{YbH}}^{+}YbH+ may be a problem in establishing frequency standards using buffer-gas-cooled Yb+{\mathrm{Yb}}^{+}Yb+ , owing to difficulty in removing H2{\mathrm{H}}_{2}H2​ gas from vacuum systems.
The trapped 171Yb+^{171}\mathrm{Yb}^{+}171Yb+ ion is a promising candidate for portable atomic clock applications. However, with buffer-gas cooled ytterbium ions, the ions can be pumped into a low-lying 2F7/2^{2}F_{7/2}2F7/2​ state or form YbH+{\mathrm{YbH}}^{+}YbH+ molecules. These dark states reduce the fluorescence signal from the ions and can degrade the clock stability. In this work, we study the dynamics of the populations of the 2F7/2^{2}F_{7/2}2F7/2​ state and YbH+{\mathrm{YbH}}^{+}YbH+ molecules under different operating conditions of our 171Yb+^{171}\mathrm{Yb}^{+}171Yb+ ion system. Our study indicates that 2F7/2^{2}F_{7/2}2F7/2​-state ions can form YbH+{\mathrm{YbH}}^{+}YbH+ molecules through interactions with hydrogen gas. As observed previously, dissociation of YbH+{\mathrm{YbH}}^{+}YbH+ is observed at wavelengths around 369 nm. We also demonstrate YbH+{\mathrm{YbH}}^{+}YbH+ dissociation using 405 nm light. Moreover, we show that the population in the dark states can be limited by using a single repump laser at 935 nm. Our study provides insights into the molecular formation in a trapped ion system.
The storage time of Yb+ ions trapped in an r.f. trap was determined by the rf resonance absorption method in the presence of buffer gas, without and with laser radiation of a frequency equal to the transition from the S1/2 ground state to the excited P1/2 state. The storage time of the ions with the buffer gas (presure between 1 × 10−4 and 4·2 × 10−4 Pa) was several hours without the laser radiation; this period was shortened to several hundred seconds by irradiation with a 500 nW laser source. This phenomenon shows that the trapped Yb+ ions disappeared from the trap as a result of irradiation with the resonance laser light.
We report on a study to determine the efficiency of various buffer gases in quenching the population trapping states of laser-excited ytterbium ions. The ions were confined in an rf-dc hybrid trap, and their 2^{2}2S1/2{\mathit{S}}_{1/2}S1/2​${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\leftrightarrows}}}^{2}$P3/2{\mathit{P}}_{3/2}P3/2​ transition was excited with 329-nm laser light. Buffer gases used include H2{\mathrm{H}}_{2}H2​, N2{\mathrm{N}}_{2}N2​, CO2{\mathrm{CO}}_{2}CO2​, Ar, and He at several different pressure regimes. We have identified N2{\mathrm{N}}_{2}N2​ to be highly efficient in quenching the population of the trapping states and thus be the most suitable buffer gas to use with ytterbium for the development of a trapped-ion microwave frequency standard.
Long-lived metastable states of Yb+{\text{Yb}}^{+}Yb+ ions are used for atomic frequency standards, precision measurements, and quantum information research. The effect of population trapping and transfer in these states must be well understood. We report here the transfer of Yb+{\text{Yb}}^{+}Yb+ ions into the long-lived 2F7/2{^{2}F}_{7/2}2F7/2​ state by means of collisions between He buffer gas and Yb+{\text{Yb}}^{+}Yb+ ions held in a linear Paul trap. Transfer rates were measured as functions of buffer-gas pressure and repump-laser power, and the collisional population transfer rates were extracted. The measured transfer rate coefficients are $8.32(75)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}11}$ and $8.65(33)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}11}\text{ }{\text{cm}}^{3}/\text{s}$ for the collisional processes ${^{2}P}_{1/2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{^{2}D}_{5/2}$ and ${^{2}D}_{3/2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{^{2}F}_{7/2}$, respectively.
We report on a study to determine the efficiency of various buffer gases in quenching the population trapping states of laser excited ytterbium ions. The ions were confined in an rf/dc hybrid trap, and their /sup 2/S/sub 1/2//spl hArr//sup 2/P/sub 3/2/ transition was excited with 329 nm laser light. Buffer gases used include H/sub 2/, N/sub 2/, CO/sub 2/, Ar, and He at several different pressure regimes. We have identified N/sub 2/ to be highly efficient in quenching the population of the trapping states, and thus be the most suitable buffer gas to use with ytterbium for the development of a trapped ion microwave frequency standard.