Hannover 2010 – scientific programme
Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Downloads | Help
Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik
Q 7: Precision Measurements and Metrology I
Q 7.2: Talk
Monday, March 8, 2010, 14:15–14:30, M 11
A compact source of ultracold Yb for an optical lattice clock — •Charbel Abou-Jaoudeh, Cristian Bruni, and Axel Görlitz — Institut für Experimentalphysik, HHU Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf
Neutral ytterbium (Yb) is an interesting candidate for the realization of an optical clock at a wavelength of 578 nm. In the fermionic isotopes, the corresponding transition 1S0→ 3P0 has a natural linewidth of a few tens of mHz. The use of bosonic istopes (e. g. 174Yb) in an optical lattice clock is also possible if well-controlled magnetic fields are used to enable the otherwise forbidden direct optical excitation of the clock transition.
Here we report on the development of a transportable source of ultracold Yb atoms for an optical lattice clock. All laser systems in the compact apparatus are diode-based. We have already implemented the first cooling stage using blue laser diodes at 399 nm and realized a magnetooptical trap with more than 107 atoms. Successful transfer of bosonic 174Yb and fermionic 171Yb into the second stage magnetooptical trap operating on the narrow 61S0 → 63P1 at 556 nm and further cooling of the atoms to temperatures of a few 100 µK has also been achieved. The next step will be to load the atoms into a 3D optical lattice at the magic wavelength of 759 nm which is formed in a folded linear resonator inside the vacuum chamber. The special design of the lattice setup allows for a large-volume optical lattice with a diameter of 150 µm and a potential depth of 100 µK if 200 mW of radiation from a tapered diode laser are coupled into the resonator.