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Laser Cooling Transitions in Atomic Erbium

Published

Author(s)

H Ban, M Jacka, James L. Hanssen, Joseph Reader, Jabez J. McClelland

Abstract

We discuss laser cooling opportunities in atomic erbium, identifying five J rarr} J + 1 transitions from the 4f126s2 3H6 ground state that are accessible to common visible and near-infrared continuous-wave tunable lasers. We present lifetime measurements for the 4f11(4Io15/2)5d5/26s2 (15/2, 5/2)7o state at 11888 cm-1 and the 4f11(4Io 13/2)5d3/26s2 (13/2, 5/2)7o state at 15847 cm-1 showing values of 20 plus or minus} 4 υs and 5.6 plus or minus} 1.4 υs, respectively. We also present a calculated value of 13 plus or minus} 7 s-1 for the transition rate from the 4f11(4Io 15/2)5d3/26s2 (15/2, 3/2)7o state at 7697 cm-1 to the ground state, based on scaled Hartree-Fock energy parameters. Laser cooling on these transitions in combination with a strong, fast (5.8 ns) laser cooling transition at 401 nm, suggest new opportunities for narrowband laser cooling of a large-magnetic moment atom, with possible applications in quantum information processing, high-precision atomic clocks, quantum degenerate gases, and deterministic single-atom doping of materials.
Citation
Optics Express
Volume
13
Issue
8

Keywords

erbium, laser cooling, lifetimes

Citation

Ban, H. , Jacka, M. , Hanssen, J. , Reader, J. and McClelland, J. (2005), Laser Cooling Transitions in Atomic Erbium, Optics Express, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=620571 (Accessed October 11, 2025)

Issues

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Created April 17, 2005, Updated October 12, 2021
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