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Chinese Physics Letters

Hertz-Level Clock Spectroscopy of 171 Yb Atoms in a One-Dimensional Optical Lattice

Meng-Jiao Zhang, Hui Liu, Xi Zhang, Kunliang Jiang, Zhuan-Xian Xiong, Baolong Lü, Lingxiang He

Published Jul 1, 2016• 7 citations
Publisher

Abstract

An ultra-narrow spectroscopy of clock transition with high signal-to-noise ratio is crucial for a high-performance atomic optical clock. We present a detailed study about how to obtain a Hertz-level clock transition spectrum of 171 Yb atoms. About 4 × 10 4 atoms are loaded into a one-dimensional optical lattice with a magic wavelength of 759 nm, and a long lifetime of 3 s is realized with the lattice power of 1 W. Through normalized shelving detection and spin polarization, 171 Yb clock spectroscopy with a Fourier-limited linewidth of 5.9 Hz is obtained. Our work represents a key step toward an ytterbium optical clock with high frequency stability.

DOI
10.1088/0256-307x/33/7/070601

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An ultra-narrow spectroscopy of clock transition with high signal-to-noise ratio is crucial for a high-performance atomic optical clock. We present a detailed study about how to obtain a Hertz-level clock transition spectrum of 171 Yb atoms. About 4 × 10 4 atoms are loaded into a one-dimensional optical lattice with a magic wavelength of 759 nm, and a long lifetime of 3 s is realized with the lattice power of 1 W. Through normalized shelving detection and spin polarization, 171 Yb clock spectroscopy with a Fourier-limited linewidth of 5.9 Hz is obtained. Our work represents a key step toward an ytterbium optical clock with high frequency stability.
An optical lattice clock probes a spectrally narrow electronic transition in an ensemble of optically trapped, laser-cooled atoms, for use as a time and frequency standard. To date, several lattice clocks have been demonstrated with superior stability and accuracy compared to primary frequency standards based on microwave transitions. Yet, the question of which atomic system (including the element and isotope) performs best as a lattice clock remains unsettled. This thesis describes the first detailed investigation of an optical lattice clock using a spin-1/2 isotope of the ytterbium atom. A spin-1/2 system possesses several advantages over higher-spin systems, including a simplified level structure (allowing for straightforward manipulation of the nuclear spin state) and the absence of any tensor light shift from the confining optical lattice. Moreover, the ytterbium atom (Yb) stands among the leading lattice clock candidates, offering a high-performance optical clock with some degree of experimental simplicity. The frequency stability of the Yb clock is highlighted by resolving an ultra-narrow clock spectrum with a full-width at half-maximum of 1 Hz, corresponding to a record quality factor Q = ν0/Δν = 5 × 1014. Moreover, this system can be highly accurate, which is demonstrated by characterizing the Yb clock frequency at the 3 × 10-16 level of fractional uncertainty, with further progress toward a ten-fold improvement also presented. To reach this low level of uncertainty required careful consideration of important systematic errors, including the identification of the Stark-canceling wavelength, where the clock’s sensitivity to the lattice intensity is minimized, a precise determination of the static polarizability of the clock transition, and the measurement and control of atom-atom collisions.
We report spectroscopy of the 1S 0 - 3P 0 clock transition in neutral 174Yb atoms confined to a one-dimensional optical lattice at the ac Stark shift-canceling wavelength of 759.35 nm. Spectroscopic linewidths as narrow as 4 Hz, full width at half-maximum, are shown with good contrast and signal-to-noise ratios. An upper limit on frequency instability is demonstrated to be 3 × 10−15 at one second by measuring with respect to another stable laser through a Ti:sapphire femtosecond laser frequency comb.
We describe progress toward an optical lattice clock based on an even isotope of Yb. The 1S0 → 3P0 clock resonance in 174Yb is accessed through a magnetically induced spectroscopic technique. Using ≈1mT static magnetic fields and ≈10 μW of probe light power we generate Rabi frequencies of several hertz. The narrow spectroscopic features that result (< 10 Hz FWHM) require a highly stabilized laser at the clock transition wavelength of 578 nm. We describe a new all solid-state laser system that shows hertz level stability. In order to cancel the slow drift of the cavity, spectroscopy is performed on the clock transition to provide feedback to the laser. Using a Ca neutral atom frequency standard as a reference oscillator,we show high stability and an effective method for investigating clock frequency shift systematics.
An optical atomic clock with 171 Yb atoms is devised and tested. By using a two-stage Doppler cooling technique, the 171 Yb atoms are cooled down to a temperature of 6±3 μK, which is close to the Doppler limit. Then, the cold 171 Yb atoms are loaded into a one-dimensional optical lattice with a wavelength of 759 nm in the Lamb—Dicke regime. Furthermore, these cold 171 Yb atoms are excited from the ground-state 1 S 0 to the excited-state 3 P 0 by a clock laser with a wavelength of 578 nm. Finally, the 1 S 0 – 3 P 0 clock-transition spectrum of these 171 Yb atoms is obtained by measuring the dependence of the population of the ground-state 1 S 0 upon the clock-laser detuning.
We present an optical lattice clock based on ytterbium 171Yb atoms developed in the laboratories of INRIM. In the experiment, we cool and trap ytterbium atoms in a two stage magneto-optical trap (MOT) (at 399nm and 556nm for the first and second stage, respectively). Atoms are then transferred in a horizontal, one-dimensional optical lattice at the magic wavelength (759 nm). Here the clock transition at 578nm is probed by a laser stabilized on an ultra-stable cavity. We describe the generation of all the laser sources, the physic package and the operation of the clock. Lasers at 399 nm, 556nm and 578nm are obtained, with different techniques, using non-linear crystals starting from infrared sources. The clock laser is stabilized using a high finesse notched ULE cavity. The lattice is made with a titanium-sapphire laser. The aluminum vacuum chamber is designed for wide optical access and its temperature is measured by 8 thermistors for blackbody shift evaluation. Our system allows for fast loading of the lattice with 1 × 104atoms trapped in the lattice in 250 ms. We obtained preliminary spectroscopy results and we locked the clock laser to the atomic line. Future perspectives are discussed.