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Physical Review A

Subkilohertz absolute-frequency measurement of the 467-nm electric octupole transition in 171Yb+

P. J. Blythe, Stephen A. Webster, Helen S. Margolis, S.N. Lea, Guozheng Huang, Sang-Kyung Choi, W. R. C. Rowley, Patrick Robert Gill, Robert S. Windeler

Published Feb 10, 2003• 39 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The ${}^{2}{S}_{1/2}{(F=0)}^{2}{F}_{7/2}{(F=3,m}_{F}=0)$ transition at 467 nm in a single trapped, laser-cooled ion of ${}^{171}{\mathrm{Yb}}^{+}$ has been measured to be ${f}_{{\mathrm{Yb}}^{+}}=642121496771.26(23)\mathrm{kHz}$ using a femtosecond laser frequency comb generator. The measurement is limited by measurement statistics and by the ac Stark shift, both related to the 4.5 kHz linewidth of the probe laser at the time. The systematic shifts of the transition, including ac Stark, second-order Zeeman, quadrupole, and blackbody shifts, have been evaluated.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.67.020501

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Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE•Oct 8, 2003•0 citations
The 2S1/2(F=0)2F7/2(F=3,mF=0){}^{2}{S}_{1/2}{(F=0)}^{2}{F}_{7/2}{(F=3,m}_{F}=0)2S1/2​(F=0)2F7/2​(F=3,mF​=0) transition at 467 nm in a single trapped, laser-cooled ion of 171Yb+{}^{171}{\mathrm{Yb}}^{+}171Yb+ has been measured to be fYb+=642121496771.26(23)kHz{f}_{{\mathrm{Yb}}^{+}}=642121496771.26(23)\mathrm{kHz}fYb+​=642121496771.26(23)kHz using a femtosecond laser frequency comb generator. The measurement is limited by measurement statistics and by the ac Stark shift, both related to the 4.5 kHz linewidth of the probe laser at the time. The systematic shifts of the transition, including ac Stark, second-order Zeeman, quadrupole, and blackbody shifts, have been evaluated.
Spectroscopy has been performed on $\mathrm{the}{}^{2}{S}_{1/2}(F=0,{m}_{F}{=0)\ensuremath{-}}^{2}{F}_{7/2}{(F=3,m}_{F}=0)$ electric octupole transition in 171Yb+{}^{171}{\mathrm{Yb}}^{+}171Yb+ with kilohertz resolution. A quantum jump rate of more than one per second has been achieved, a factor of 100 improvement on previous work. Spectra including the sidebands at the trap secular frequency show the ion to be in the Lambe-Dicke regime and hence the Doppler effect has been eliminated to first order. The dynamic Stark shift is a significant perturbation to the frequency because of the high intensity required to drive the octupole transition. It has been measured as ${42}_{\ensuremath{-}10}^{+12} \ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{Hz}{\mathrm{W}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}{\mathrm{m}}^{2}$ and with further reduction in the probe laser linewidth, it should be possible to reduce the relative uncertainty in this shift to the parts in 1018{10}^{18}1018 level. The transition is free from the Zeeman effect to first order and has a measured second-order shift of $1.9(3) \mathrm{mHz}(\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{T}{)}^{\ensuremath{-}2}.$ It should be possible to reduce the relative uncertainty in this shift to below the part in 1018{10}^{18}1018 level. The electric quadrupole shift may be the limiting systematic effect, but cannot yet be observed with the current resolution on the transition.
We report on precision laser spectroscopy of the ${^{2}S}_{1/2}(F=0)\text{\ensuremath{-}}{^{2}F}_{7/2}(F=3,{m}_{F}=0)$ clock transition in a single ion of 171Yb+{^{171}\text{Y}\text{b}}^{+}171Yb+. A linewidth of <40 Hz<40\text{ }\text{Hz}<40 Hz is observed and frequency instability due to fluctuation of the ac Stark shift is reduced through improved stability of the beam alignment. The absolute value of the transition frequency, determined using an optical frequency comb, is $642\text{ }121\text{ }496\text{ }772\text{ }657\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}12\text{ }\text{Hz}$ with a fractional uncertainty of $2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}14}$. This is a factor of 50 better than the previously published value [Hosaka et al., IEEE Trans. Instrum. Meas. 54, 759 (2005)].
The 2S1/2 (F = 0) - 2F7/2 (F = 3, m F = 0) transition at 467 nm in a single, trapped, laser cooled ion of 171Yb+ has the potential to be an extremely accurate optical frequency reference. Systematic shifts have been evaluated and are currently dominated by the ac-Stark shift. However, this is not expected to be the case as probe laser linewidth is reduced. A heterodyne measurement of the probe laser shows it to have a width of 20 Hz on a 1 minute timescale. The atomic spectrum on the other hand, has been found to have a broadened width of 200 Hz. Using heterodyne detection of light reflected from the trap electrodes, Doppler shifting due to vibration of the trap is identified as the additional source of broadening.
We experimentally investigate an optical frequency standard based on the 467 nm (642 THz) electric-octupole reference transition (2)S(1/2)(F=0)→(2)F(7/2)(F=3) in a single trapped (171)Yb(+) ion. The extraordinary features of this transition result from the long natural lifetime and from the 4f(13)6s(2) configuration of the upper state. The electric-quadrupole moment of the (2)F(7/2) state is measured as -0.041(5)ea(0)(2), where e is the elementary charge and a(0) the Bohr radius. We also obtain information on the differential scalar and tensorial components of the static polarizability and of the probe-light-induced ac Stark shift of the octupole transition. With a real-time extrapolation scheme that eliminates this shift, the unperturbed transition frequency is realized with a fractional uncertainty of 7.1×10(-17). The frequency is measured as 642 121 496 772 645.15(52) Hz.
We experimentally demonstrate laser spectroscopy of the electric-quadrupole transition 6s2S1/2−−5d2D3/26s{}^{2}{S}_{1/2}--5d{}^{2}{D}_{3/2}6s2S1/2​−−5d2D3/2​ of a single trapped 171Yb{}^{171}\mathrm{Yb}171Yb ion. The probed transition has a natural linewidth of 3.1 Hz, and is at a wavelength of 435.5 nm. A 171Yb{}^{171}\mathrm{Yb}171Yb ion is laser cooled to the range of the Doppler limit in a radio-frequency Paul trap. The $F=0--{F}^{\ensuremath{'}}=2,$ ${m}_{{F}^{\ensuremath{'}}}=0$ hyperfine component of the 2S1/2−−2D3/2{}^{2}{S}_{1/2}{--}^{2}{D}_{3/2}2S1/2​−−2D3/2​ transition is excited by a laser source whose frequency is controlled by an optical reference cavity of high intrinsic stability. The recoilless carrier component of the vibrational sideband spectrum is resolved with a minimum linewidth of approximately 80 Hz, corresponding to a fractional frequency resolution of $1.2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}13}.$ This resolution limit is attributed to laser frequency instability. The effective decoherence rates of the residual ion motion are inferred from the observation that the axial and two radial low-frequency first-order secular-vibration sidebands show minimum linewidths in the range of 0.2--1 kHz. Prospects for an optical frequency standard based on the investigated atomic system are discussed.
We describe experimental investigations on an optical frequency standard based on a single laser cooled 171Yb+ ion confined in a radiofrequency Paul trap. The 435.5 nm electric-quadrupole transition from the 2S1/2(F=0) groudn state to the 2D3/2(F=2) state is probed using a diode laser system whose short-term frequency stability is derived from an environmentally isolated ULE cavity. The transition is resolved with a Foruier-limited full halfwidth of approximately 30 Hz. The absolute optical transition frequency is determined using a femtosecond frequency comb generator and a Cs fountain clock as the frequency reference. The measured frequency value is 688 358 979 321 Hz at an ambient blackbody radiation field of 300 K. The 1σ fractional uncertainty of this frequency measurement is 1×10-14.