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Chinese Physics B

Nondestructive detection of atom counts in laser-trapped 171Yb atoms

Congcong 聪聪 Tian 田, Qiang 强 Zhu 朱, Bing Wang, Dezhi Xiong, Zhuan-Xian Xiong, Lingxiang He, Baolong Lyu

Published Dec 13, 2024• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract We present the experimental demonstration of nondestructive detection of 171Yb atoms in a magneto-optical trap (MOT) based on phase shift measurement induced by the atoms on a weak off-resonant laser beam. After loading a green MOT of 171Yb atoms, the phase shift is obtained with a two-color Mach–Zehnder interferometer by means of ±45 MHz detuning with respect to the 1S0–1P1 transition. We measured a phase shift of about 100 mrad corresponding to an atom count of around 5 × 105. This demonstrates that it is possible to obtain the number of atoms without direct destructive measurement compared with the absorption imaging method. This scheme could be an important approach towards a high-precision lattice clock for clock operation through suppression of the impact of the Dick effect.

DOI
10.1088/1674-1056/ad9e9d

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Abstract We present the experimental demonstration of nondestructive detection of 171Yb atoms in a magneto-optical trap (MOT) based on phase shift measurement induced by the atoms on a weak off-resonant laser beam. After loading a green MOT of 171Yb atoms, the phase shift is obtained with a two-color Mach–Zehnder interferometer by means of ±45 MHz detuning with respect to the 1S0–1P1 transition. We measured a phase shift of about 100 mrad corresponding to an atom count of around 5 × 105. This demonstrates that it is possible to obtain the number of atoms without direct destructive measurement compared with the absorption imaging method. This scheme could be an important approach towards a high-precision lattice clock for clock operation through suppression of the impact of the Dick effect.
We present the experimental demonstration of nondestructive probing of the ${^{1}S}_{0}\text{\ensuremath{-}}{^{3}P}_{0}$ clock transition probability in an optical lattice clock with 87Sr^{87}\text{S}\text{r}87Sr atoms. It is based on the phase shift induced by the atoms on a weak off-resonant laser beam. The method we propose is a differential measurement of this phase shift on two modulation sidebands with opposite detuning with respect to the ${^{1}S}_{0}\text{\ensuremath{-}}{^{1}P}_{1}$ transition, allowing a detection limited by the photon shot noise. We have measured an atomic population of 104{10}^{4}104 atoms with a signal-to-noise ratio of 100 per cycle, while keeping more than 95% of the atoms in the optical lattice with a depth of 0.1 mK. The method proves simple and robust enough to be operated as part of the whole clock setup. This detection scheme enables us to reuse atoms for subsequent clock state interrogations, dramatically reducing the loading time and thereby improving the clock frequency stability.
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We demonstrate efficient loading of an Yb three-dimensional magneto-optical trap (3D MOT) on the 1S0 → 1P1 transition. The experiment employs a two-dimensional magneto-optical trap (2D MOT) as an efficient cold atom source. Through optimization of the 2D MOT, auxiliary Zeeman slower, and push beam parameters that govern atomic capture, we achieve an atomic loading rate of 5 × 106 atoms/s in the 3D MOT, with approximately ∼107 trapped atoms. Our experimental results confirm the successful transfer of a substantial number of atoms from the 2D region to the science chamber via the push beam, providing an experimental foundation for subsequent implementation of narrow-line MOT and two-color MOT.
We report the experimental realization of a magneto-optical trap (MOT) of 174 Yb atoms operating on the 1 So− 3 P 1 intercombination transition at 555.8 nm. The green MOT is loaded by a Zeeman-slowed atomic beam. In order to increase the capture velocity of the MOT, we use the trapping laser beams consisting of five discrete frequency components obtained by modulating the laser light through an electro-optic modulator. The trapped atomic number of the 174 Yb isotope is about 6.2 × 10 5 , and the temperature of the cold atomic cloud is estimated to be about 100 μK. The success of the green MOT is an important step towards the goal of an ytterbium optical clock.
We present an experimental setup to laser cool and trap a large number of ytterbium atoms. Our design uses an oven with an array of micro-tubes for efficient collimation of the atomic beam, and we implement a magneto-optical trap of 174Yb on the 1S0 → 1P1 transition at 399 nm. Despite the absence of a Zeeman slower, we obtain a loading of 4 × 109 at./s. We trap up to N = 109 at., where light-assisted collisions become the dominant loss mechanism. We precisely characterize our atomic beam, the loading rate of the magneto-optical trap, and several loss mechanisms relevant for trapping a large number of atoms.
We report the direct excitation of the highly forbidden (6s2) 1S0 <--> (6s6p) 3P0 optical transition in two odd isotopes of neutral ytterbium. As the excitation laser frequency is scanned, absorption is detected by monitoring the depletion from an atomic cloud at approximately 70 microK in a magneto-optical trap. The measured frequency in 171Yb (F=1/2) is 518,295,836,591.6 +/- 4.4 kHz. The measured frequency in 173Yb (F=5/2) is 518,294,576,847.6 +/- 4.4 kHz. Measurements are made with a femtosecond-laser frequency comb calibrated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology cesium fountain clock and represent nearly a 10(6)-fold reduction in uncertainty. The natural linewidth of these J=0 to J=0 transitions is calculated to be approximately 10 mHz, making them well suited to support a new generation of optical atomic clocks based on confinement in an optical lattice.