Rostock 2019 – scientific programme
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A: Fachverband Atomphysik
A 3: Precision Spectroscopy of atoms and ions I (joint session A/Q)
A 3.7: Talk
Monday, March 11, 2019, 12:00–12:15, S HS 2 Physik
Quantum Logic Laser Spectroscopy of Ar13+ — •Peter Micke1,2, Steven A. King1, Tobias Leopold1, Steffen Kühn2, Janko Nauta2, Lisa Schmöger1,2, Julian Stark2, José R. Crespo López-Urrutia2, and Piet O. Schmidt1,3 — 1Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Braunschweig — 2Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik (MPIK), Heidelberg — 3Institut für Quantenoptik, Leibniz Universität Hannover
Highly charged ions (HCI) are extremely sensitive testbeds of fundamental physics. In next-generation atomic clocks, their forbidden optical transitions can be used to test a possible time variation of fundamental constants. Until now, optical spectroscopy was limited by the large Doppler broadening of hot HCIs. However, in a Paul trap advanced cooling techniques can be applied. In collaboration with MPIK, we have commissioned a cryogenic Paul trap experiment at PTB. After production in an electron beam ion trap, Ar13+ is extracted, decelerated, and retrapped in a Coulomb crystal of laser-cooled Be+ ions. Next, an Ar13+-Be+ two-ion crystal is prepared in the motional ground-state by sideband cooling. Using quantum logic, we demonstrate coherent laser spectroscopy on HCIs for the first time. We resolve the 441 nm 2P1/2-2P3/2 M1 transition on a sub-kHz level, already improving previous work by seven orders of magnitude. Soon, after further stabilizing our clock laser, we will resolve the natural linewidth of 17 Hz and evaluate minuscule systematic shifts of the unperturbed transition frequency with sub-Hz accuracy, measuring relative to the SI second.