Freiburg 2024 – scientific programme
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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik
Q 55: Poster VI
Q 55.1: Poster
Thursday, March 14, 2024, 17:00–19:00, Tent B
Enhanced laser systems for photoassociation spectroscopy and cold Hg atoms — •Rudolf Homm and Thomas Walther — Technische Universität Darmstadt, Institut für Angewandte Physik, Laser und Quantenoptik, Schlossgartenstraße 7, 64289 Darmstadt
Cold Hg atoms in a magneto-optical trap offer opportunities for various experiments. The two stable fermionic isotopes are of interest for a new time standard based on an optical lattice clock employing the 1S0 - 3P0 transition at 265.6 nm. All stable isotopes can be used to form ultracold Hg dimers by photoassociation combined with vibrational cooling by applying a specific excitation scheme.
Our experimental setup consists of two UV laser systems and a magneto-optical trap for Hg atoms with a 2D-MOT for preselection of the desired isotopes. Both laser systems consist of a MOFA setup followed by two successive frequency doubling stages.
The cooling laser aims for stabilization at a fixed frequency and high output power. Therefore, we use Doppler-free saturation spectroscopy and a frequency doubling stage with an elliptical focus in the crystal. We can now produce more than 1 W at 253.7 nm without any sign of degradation in the BBO crystal.
We improved the output power of the spectroscopy laser to over 200 mW at 254.1 nm and are installing a feed-forward setup for the frequency doubling cavities to match the tuning range of the ECDL.
We will report on the status of the experiments.
Keywords: Hg; Mercury; MOT; Photoassociation; UV-Laser