We report photoassociative spectroscopy of
88Sr2 in a magneto-optical trap operating on the $^{1}S_{0}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}^{3}P_{1}$ intercombination line at 689 nm. Photoassociative transitions are driven with a laser red detuned by 600--2400 MHz from the $^{1}S_{0}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}^{1}P_{1}$ atomic resonance at 461 nm. Photoassociation takes place at extremely large internuclear separation, and the photoassociative spectrum is strongly affected by relativistic retardation. A fit of the transition frequencies determines the
1P1 atomic lifetime ($\ensuremath{\tau}=5.22\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.03\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{n}\mathrm{s}$) and resolves a discrepancy between experiment and recent theoretical calculations.
We report on our progress toward the realization of an optical frequency standard referenced to strontium intercombination lines. While first frequency measurement of the weakly allowed 1S 0- 3P 1 transition was done with saturation spectroscopy on a thermal beam, we are preparing the experimental setup for high resolution spectroscopy on ultracold atoms of the doubly forbidden 1S 0- 3P 0 line. Our current setup allows the capture more than 10 7 atoms at 1 μK in 500 ms in two stages of magneto-optical trapping. We also demonstrated the dipole trapping of ultracold strontium isotopes for accurate spectroscopy and collisional measurements. A semiconductor laser source at 698 nm has already been locked to a pre-stabilization cavity obtaining a fast linewidth of less than 1 kHz. Second stage stabilization of the clock laser to ultra-high finesse cavity is in development. Recent measurement of elastic and inelastic cross-sections of the two most abundant 88Sr and 86Sr isotopes are also presented.
As a key component of a strontium based optical clock, we have developed an apparatus which allows laser cooling and trapping of more than 10/sup 7/ /sup 88/Sr atoms to temperatures below 1 /spl mu/K. Using this system, we have performed the first high accuracy measurement of the /sup 88/Sr /sup 1/S/sub 0/-/sup 3/P/sub 1/ clock transition using an ultra-cold sample. Detailed descriptions of both the measurement technique and corresponding systematic uncertainties is provided. In addition, by varying the density of the ultra-cold /sup 88/Sr sample over a range of three orders of magnitude we obtain the first definitive measurement of a density-related frequency shift and linewidth broadening of an optical clock transition in an ultra-cold alkaline earth system. Spectroscopy of the /sub 1/S/sub 0/-/sup 3/P/sub 0/ transition is currently underway using this narrow probe laser and an octave spanning femtosecond laser. Our most recent results are presented. The proposed measurement technique, accuracy, and stability of an optical clock based on the EIT (electromagnetically-induced-transparency) measurement in /sup 88/Sr are described.
We observed high-resolution photoassociation spectra of laser-cooled ytterbium (Yb) atoms in the spin-forbidden 1S0 - 3P1 intercombination line. The rovibrational levels in the 0u+ state were measured for red detunings of the photoassociation laser ranging from 2.9 MHz to 1.97 GHz with respect to the atomic resonance. The rotational splitting of the vibrational levels near the dissociation limit were fully resolved due to the sub-MHz linewidth of the spectra in contrast to previous measurements using the spin-allowed singlet transition. In addition, from a comparison between the spectra of 174Yb and those of 176Yb, a d-wave shape resonance for 174Yb is strongly suggested.
This dissertation describes two-photon photoassociation to the least-bound vibrational level of the X
1Σg+ electronic ground state of the
86Sr
2 dimer, which represents the first observation of this naturally occurring halo molecule. We measure the binding energy of this state to be
Eb=83.00(7)(20)\,kHz. Using the precise determination of the halo state binding energy and the universal theory for a very weakly-bound state on a potential that asymptotes to a van der Waals form, we determine
s-wave scattering lengths for all strontium isotopes. Our results are consistent with, but substantially more accurate than the previously determined values found from spectroscopic determination of long-range coefficients using other strontium isotopes. With a radial expectation value of
⟨r⟩≈21\,nm the halo state extends well into the classically forbidden region, which results in a large sensitivity of the dimer binding energy to light near-resonant with a bound-bound transition on the metastable
1S0−3P1 potential. This suggests that
86Sr may be a promising candidate for manipulating atomic interactions via optical coupling of the molecular bound states and for probing naturally occurring Efimov states. Furthermore, we observe novel multi-photon spectral loss features due to strong coupling and small detuning of the photoassociation lasers. Numerical simulations of a simple three-level model undergoing a simultaneous two-frequency drive, shows that solutions of the time-dependent Schr\"{o}dinger equation accurately reproduce these additional loss features. A Floquet analysis of this model, yields analytic formulas for predicting the AC Stark shift of the halo molecule. Additionally, we report on the current state and recent modifications of our ultracold neutral strontium apparatus with a particular emphasis on the installation of a
532\,nm optical lattice. Characterization of this laser system and applications are discussed for further investigation of the strontium-
86 halo molecule and additional photoassociation experiments.