/sup 199/Hg/sup +/ optical frequency standard: progress report

Author

Fac, R. J Ra ; Young, B.C. ; Cruz, F.C. ; Beall, J.A. ; Bergquist, J.C. ; Itano, W.M. ; Wineland, D.J.

Author_Institution

Nat. Inst. of Stand. & Technol., Boulder, CO, USA

Volume

2

fYear

1999

fDate

13-16 April 1999

Firstpage

676

Abstract

We are developing an optical frequency standard based on the narrow /sup 2/S/sub 1/2/-/sup 2/D/sub 5/2/ electric-quadrupole transition of a single trapped /sup 199/Hg/sup +/ ion. Small linear traps designed to operate at liquid helium temperatures have been constructed which will provide confinement in the Lamb-Dicke regime for the optical transition. Cryogenic operation yields long ion storage times and significantly suppresses frequency shifts due to collisions and blackbody radiation. A major step toward the completion of this standard has been the construction and evaluation of a well isolated, high-finesse, Fabry-Perot cavity to stabilize the frequency of the interrogating laser. We report our cavity results and progress toward locking the laser frequency to the transition in the stored ion.

Keywords

Doppler shift; Fabry-Perot resonators; atom-photon collisions; blackbody radiation; cryogenics; frequency standards; laser beams; laser cavity resonators; laser cooling; laser frequency stability; laser variables measurement; mercury (metal); optical variables measurement; particle traps; positive ions; quantum optics; radiation pressure; trapped ions; /sup 199/Hg/sup +/; /sup 2/S/sub 1/2/-/sup 2/D/sub 5/2/ electric-quadrupole transition; 4.2 K; Hg; Lamb-Dicke regime; blackbody radiation; cavity results; collisions; cryogenic operation; frequency shifts; high-finesse Fabry-Perot cavity; interrogating laser; ion storage times; laser frequency; laser locking; liquid He temperatures; optical frequency standard; optical transition; progress report; single trapped ions; small linear traps; stored ion; transition; Charge carrier processes; Cryogenics; Frequency; Helium; Laser transitions; Mercury (metals); Optical design; Particle beam optics; Standards development; Temperature;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Frequency and Time Forum, 1999 and the IEEE International Frequency Control Symposium, 1999., Proceedings of the 1999 Joint Meeting of the European

Conference_Location

Besancon, France

ISSN

1075-6787

Print_ISBN

0-7803-5400-1

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/FREQ.1999.841396

Filename

841396