Laser cooling of trapped ytterbium ions using a four-level optical-excitation scheme

Bell, A.S. , Gill, P., Klein, H., Levick, A., Tamm, C. and Schnier, D. (1991) Laser cooling of trapped ytterbium ions using a four-level optical-excitation scheme. Physical Review A: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, 44(1), R20-R23. (doi: 10.1103/PhysRevA.44.R20)

Abstract

We demonstrate laser cooling of ¹⁷²Yb⁺ ions in a rf quadrupole trap using an alternative optical-excitation scheme. The metastable 4f¹⁴5d²D_3/2 state of Yb⁺, to which ions decay if the resonance (cooling) transition is driven, is depleted by driving an optical transition at a wavelength of 935 nm, which is much more attractive than the 2.438 μm radiation used previously. This couples the metastable state to a fourth energy level from which the ions decay rapidly to the ground state. Fluorescence line shapes of the cooling transition indicate that small numbers of Yb⁺ ions were cooled in this way to kinetic temperatures below 1 K.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Bell, Dr Angus
• Authors: Bell, A.S., Gill, P., Klein, H., Levick, A., Tamm, C., and Schnier, D.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Physics and Astronomy
• Journal Name: Physical Review A: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• ISSN: 1050-2947
• ISSN (Online): 1094-1622