Direct Excitation of the Forbidden Clock Transition in Neutral 174Yb Atoms Confined to an Optical Lattice

Published

March 1, 2006

Author(s)

Zeb Barber, C Hoyt, Christopher W. Oates, Leo W. Hollberg, A. V. Taichenachev, V. I. Yudin

Abstract

We report direct single laser excitation of the strictly forbidden (6s²) ^s1S_0-(6s6p)^³P_0 clock transition in the even 174Yb isotope confiend to a 1-D optical lattice. A small (1.2mT) static magnetic field is used to induce a non-zero electric dipole transition probability between the clock states at the ground-to-excited state splitting of 578.42nm. Ultra-narrow resonance linewidths of 20Hz (FHWM) with high contrast were observed. The previously unknown ac Stark shift-canceling (magic) wavelength is determined to be 759.35 +/.0.02nm. The method can be easily implemented in current Yb and Sr optical lattice clock experiments to extend their studies to the metrologically preferred even isotopes. Furthermore, this magnetic field-induced spectroscopic method can be employed with the even isotopes of other alkaline earth-like atoms (e.g. Mg, Ca), creating new clock possibilities.

Citation

Physical Review Letters

Volume

96

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

neutral atoms, optical frequency standards, optical lattice clock, precision spectroscopy, Yb, ytterbium

Citation

Barber, Z. , Hoyt, C. , Oates, C. , Hollberg, L. , Taichenachev, A. and Yudin, V. (2006), Direct Excitation of the Forbidden Clock Transition in Neutral 174Yb Atoms Confined to an Optical Lattice, Physical Review Letters, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=841938 (Accessed October 1, 2025)