Bonn 2025 – scientific programme

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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 20: Atom & Ion Clocks and Metrology I

Q 20.2: Talk

Tuesday, March 11, 2025, 11:30–11:45, HS Botanik

Exploring the hyperfine structure of the D_5/2 state of ¹⁷³Yb⁺ — •Ikbal Biswas¹, Jialiang Yu¹, Anand Prakash¹, Elena Jordan¹, and Tanja Mehlstäubler^1,2 — ¹Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Braunschweig, Germany — ²Leibniz Universität Hannover, Hannover, Germany

The ytterbium ion (Yb⁺) is highly interesting for precision spectroscopy, as it has three clock transitions: two electric quadrupole (E2) and an electric octupole (E3) transition. In addition, it has some unique properties like high sensitivity to the variation of the fine structure constant, high angular momentum of the F_7/2 state with a lifetime of 1.6 years, which makes Yb⁺ an ideal candidate for tests of fundamental physics such as the test of local Lorentz invariance, the search for the new Boson, etc.

In order to improve the stability of clock operation with multiple ions, it is challenging to simultaneously excite the ions in a Coulomb crystal on a transition with the strong AC Stark shift. In that sense, compared to the other isotopes, ¹⁷³Yb⁺ is an interesting candidate for multi-ion clock operation and tests of fundamental physics due to the predicted hyperfine quenching (and thus a reduced AC Stark shift). Due to its large nuclear spin, precision spectroscopy of this new isotope gives insight of nuclear spin interaction. Both the energy levels and the hyperfine structure of ¹⁷³Yb⁺ have not yet been explored. In this work, we present the first measurement of the hyperfine structure of the D_5/2 clock state and the coefficient of the hyperfine interaction by interrogating the E2 transition at 411 nm.

Keywords: Precision Measurement; Multi-ion Clock; Test of fundamental physics; Hyperfine Structure; Ac Stark shift